- Trump says Iran denuclearization talks going well.
- Iran’s nuclear program not discussed in Doha: sources.
- Iran Says Doha Talks End; neither side claims major breakthroughs.
The United States and Iran ended a round of indirect talks with no sign of progress toward a lasting peace, focusing instead on issues they said had been resolved when a tentative deal was announced two weeks ago.
Sources familiar with the discussions said negotiators for the two countries spent two days in Doha discussing maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz and freeing up Iran’s funds, two critical issues under the initial deal.
The next meeting will take place after the funeral procession for Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who will be buried on July 9, Qatar’s foreign ministry said.
The Doha discussions produced “positive progress” on issues related to the memorandum that halted the war in June and “built on the results” of a summit in Switzerland, the ministry’s spokesman said in a statement on X.
In Washington, US President Donald Trump said the two sides were making progress on possible limits to Iran’s nuclear program – the main reason he launched the war alongside Israel in February.
“The nuclearization of Iran is progressing well,” he told reporters. “They have had very good meetings and we will see.”
But the sources said the nuclear program did not come up in the talks, which were of a technical nature.
US Vice President JD Vance said the matter would be dealt with later. “Of course we are concerned about the nuclear issue, we will start talking about it,” he told reporters.
US and Iranian negotiators held separate meetings with Qatari and Pakistani mediators, Qatar’s foreign ministry said.
Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and top US envoy Steve Witkoff, who were sent to the region for what the White House billed as “high-level” talks, did not attend the sessions, according to a source who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The head of Iran’s delegation, Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, said the talks had concluded. Neither side said whether they had managed to bridge any of their differences.
Who controls the strait?
The initial agreement calls for Iran and the United States to allow shipping to resume through the Strait of Hormuz, which handled a fifth of global trade in oil and liquefied natural gas before the war. Although traffic has partially resumed, the status of the strategic waterway remains unclear, and the two countries exchanged attacks last weekend following an Iranian attack on a cargo ship.
Iran is determined to win international recognition of its control of the strait, even if it will have to do so by force, two senior Iranian sources said, and has repeatedly said it will assess tolls on shipping starting in mid-August after a free period stipulated by the original deal expires.
Trump’s comments Wednesday played down the possibility of a return to all-out war with Iran. “I think they’ve come a long way,” he said.
Oil prices fell to their lowest level in four months after Trump’s remarks, and analysts cut their price forecasts for the first time since the war began.
Iran’s state media said on Wednesday that a foreign container ship ran aground in shallow water outside the shipping route designated by Iranian authorities.
“Hormuz continues to reopen, but it is patchy, unpredictable and not entirely transparent,” said Vandana Hari, founder of oil market analysis provider Vanda Insights.
Several European countries have offered to help clear mines from the strait, but German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said he did not expect his country to participate, citing Iran’s unwillingness to cooperate with other countries.
