ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - American negotiators are in Doha for talks with the mediators who helped broker the US-Iran understanding, though not with Iranian officials directly, Qatar's foreign ministry said Tuesday. Separately, Iranian officials are due to meet Qatari counterparts in Doha to discuss releasing frozen Iranian funds, Tehran's foreign ministry said, as last week's military escalation between Tehran and Washington appears to have slowed the talks' progress.
US President Donald Trump’s Envoy Steve Witkoff and advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner “are in Doha to meet mediators and follow up on the progress of negotiations,” Qatari foreign ministry Spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said in a press briefing, adding that “there is currently no scheduled high-level meeting between the United States and Iran, and there will be no direct meeting with Iranian officials.”
The Qatari official’s remarks come a day after Trump on Monday said in a post on Truth Social that "IRAN HAS REQUESTED A MEETING. IT WILL TAKE PLACE TOMORROW [Tuesday] IN DOHA!"
However, Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Tuesday that "no meeting at any level with the American side is scheduled for the coming days," detailing that what will take place in Doha is "a discussion on the implementation of certain clauses" of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between Tehran and Washington,"including the release of Iran's frozen assets," which "will be conducted with Qatari officials."
Iran and the US in mid-June signed the Islamabad MoU which provides for talks aimed at reaching a comprehensive, binding settlement within 60 days of its signing, with the possibility of extension by mutual consent.
Baghaei added, however, that Iran "will not enter" comprehensive agreement negotiations with the US until key provisions of the 14-point understanding are implemented, namely an immediate halt to military operations between Iran, the US and their allies on all fronts, the lifting of the US naval blockade on Iranian ports and withdrawal of US forces from Iran's vicinity, and the release of frozen Iranian funds.
In that vein, Qatari foreign ministry Spokesperson Ansari explained in his Tuesday briefing that “ frozen Iranian funds, amounting to $6 billion, have not yet been transferred to Iran,” adding that “any agreement on their transfer would come within a framework of consensus between Washington and Tehran, in line with developments in the negotiation process.”
The apparent slowdown in talks follows a severe test of the preliminary understanding last week, when it briefly collapsed into high-intensity military exchanges across the region before backchannel diplomacy led to an emergency stand-down.
The escalation began Thursday when an Iranian drone struck a Panama-flagged commercial vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, in what Tehran described as an enforcement action, asserting its authority over traffic through the waterway under the memorandum's terms.
The US responded with airstrikes on Iranian military infrastructure, including surveillance networks, communications facilities, air defense sites, and coastal drone-storage and mine-laying positions.
The situation escalated further when Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched coordinated ballistic missile and drone attacks on US military facilities in the region, including the Fifth Fleet base in Bahrain and Ali Al Salem Airbase in Kuwait.
Despite this, the Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson said Tuesday that “a dedicated de-escalation hotline was used to help contain the recent confrontations,”further affirming that “freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz is a guaranteed right for all Gulf states, and the closure of the strait or threats to the safety of navigation there cannot be accepted.”
