US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday to meet with Qatari mediators. These meetings are part of ongoing peace negotiations between the United States and Iran, focusing on the implementation of a memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the Middle East war. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani reaffirmed his country's role as a mediator, emphasizing a commitment to calming tensions following recent tit-for-tat strikes in the Strait of Hormuz.
While President Donald Trump stated that indirect talks were making progress, contradictions arose regarding the format of the discussions. Iran confirmed it sent a delegation to Doha for technical meetings but denied agreeing to direct negotiations with US counterparts at any level. Despite these conflicting statements, both nations are utilizing Qatari mediators to move past recent hostilities and attempt to convert a fragile interim truce into a lasting peace.
The negotiations focused on the memorandum of understanding, establishing a final deal, and the release of frozen Iranian funds. Iran's Deputy FM Gharibabadi indicated that part of $6 billion in frozen assets would be used to purchase necessary goods. The talks concluded with an agreement to establish a communication channel by Thursday to report and document violations of the initial memorandum of understanding.