- Trump says Iran denuclearization talks are progressing well.
- Iran’s nuclear program not discussed in Doha: sources.
- Iran says Doha talks concluded; Neither side claims to have made any significant progress.
The United States and Iran concluded a round of indirect talks with no signs of moving toward a lasting peace, focusing instead on issues they said had been resolved when an interim deal was announced two weeks ago.
Sources familiar with the discussions said negotiators from the two countries spent two days in Doha discussing shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz and the unfreezing of Iran funds, two critical issues under the initial deal.
The next meeting will take place after the funeral processions of 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 stopped the war in June and were “building on the results” of a summit in Switzerland, the ministry spokesperson said in a post on X.
In Washington, U.S. President Donald Trump said the two sides were making progress on possible limits to Iran’s nuclear program, the main reason he launched war alongside Israel in February.
“Iran’s denuclearization is progressing well,” he told reporters. “They’ve had very good meetings and we’ll see.”
But sources said the nuclear program was not discussed in the talks, which were technical in nature.
US Vice President JD Vance said the matter would be addressed later. “Obviously we are concerned about the nuclear issue, let’s start talking about that,” he told reporters.
American 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, sent to the region for what the White House had called “high-level” talks, did not attend the sessions, according to a source who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The leader of Iran’s delegation, Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, said the talks were concluded. Neither side said whether they had managed to bridge any of their differences.
Who controls the strait?
The initial agreement requires Iran and the United States to allow shipping to resume through the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas trade passed before the war. Although traffic has partially resumed, the status of the strategic waterway remains unclear, with the two countries trading attacks last weekend following an Iranian attack on a cargo ship.
Iran is determined to win international recognition of its control over the strait even if it has to do so by force, two senior Iranian sources said, and has repeatedly said it will evaluate tolls on shipping starting in mid-August, after a toll-free period specified in the initial agreement expires.
Trump’s comments Wednesday downplayed 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 comments, and analysts reduced their price forecasts for the first time since the war began.
Iran’s state media said on Wednesday that a foreign container ship had run aground in shallow waters outside the shipping route designated by Iranian authorities.
“Hormuz continues to reopen, but in an irregular, unpredictable and not completely transparent manner,” 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.
