Mediators say 'positive progress' made in US-Iran talks in Doha
The Foreign Office (FO) said on Thursday that Qatari and Pakistani mediators had concluded separate meetings with negotiators from the United States and Iran in Doha.
In a statement on the social media platform X, it said that “positive progress” was made on issues related to the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two sides, building on the talks held in Switzerland earlier this month.
“Parties have agreed to continue discussions over the coming period, with the next meeting to be set at the earliest possible time following the funeral processions of the former Iranian supreme leader,” it said.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated on the first day of the US-Israel war on Iran, is due to be buried on July 9,
The same statement was also posted by Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson hours earlier.
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 unfreezing Iran’s funds, two critical issues under the initial agreement.
In Washington, US President Donald Trump said the two sides were making progress on possible limits to Iran’s nuclear programme, the main reason he launched the war along with Israel in February.
“The denuclearisation of Iran is moving along well,” he told reporters. “They’ve had very good meetings, and we’ll see.”
But the sources said the nuclear programme did not come up in the talks, which were technical in nature.
US Vice President JD Vance said that the matter would be addressed later.
“Obviously, we’re worried about the nuclear issue, we’re going to start talking about that,” he told reporters.
Meanwhile, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the participants agreed that “a communication channel would be established by tomorrow” to report and record violations of the MoU, IRNA quoted Gharibabadi as saying.
Gharibabadi said that Tehran would use some of its frozen assets in Qatar to purchase goods needed by the country following talks in Doha.
“During the meetings with Qatari officials, including the Central Bank, a number of issues related to the expenditure of part of the initial six billion dollars were reviewed,” he added.
The US-Iran MoU, brokered by Qatar and Pakistan, culminated in a summit last month in Lucerne, Switzerland. It includes a 60-day ceasefire pausing the war, the reopening of the blockaded Strait of Hormuz and a timeframe for a final deal to permanently end the conflict and reach an agreement on Iran’s nuclear programme.
