Iranian officials are in Doha for indirect talks with Qatari mediators, a day after US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with Qatar’s prime minister.
Sources informed the Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera that negotiations at a technical level between Iran and the US have already begun in Doha. However, face-to-face meetings between senior officials from both sides are not planned, said Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari.
According to sources, there are at least three working groups in Doha dealing with technical discussions: the nuclear issue, diplomacy and financing and the return of frozen funds.
In turn, the Speaker of Iran’s Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, noted that the 60-day period provided for in the memorandum of understanding to reach a final agreement may be extended, stating that talks will continue until all primary and secondary sanctions imposed by the US and the UN Security Council are removed.
He said negotiations with the US will not move forward until five provisions of the document are implemented, including the cessation of hostilities in Lebanon, the guarantee of Iranian oil exports and the release of frozen Iranian assets.
Ghalibaf noted that Tehran, Washington and Beirut have agreed to establish a “deconfliction cell” and that Iran and the US have already appointed representatives. Lebanon is expected to do the same before the cell becomes operational.
The memorandum of understanding also seeks to preserve Lebanese independence, while the separate US-brokered framework agreement between Lebanon and Israel seeks to guarantee the security of Tel Aviv.
Furthermore, it also stated that “Iran and Oman have already reached an agreement on all legal and service-related issues” in the administration of maritime services in the Strait of Hormuz.
In turn, US Vice President JD Vance told Fox News that the Trump administration was in a “great position” regardless of the outcome of the negotiations. He also insisted that Tehran’s nuclear program and military had been “destroyed” and warned that Trump had made clear that any Iranian attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz would provoke a US military response.
However, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump, when recently confronted with a full range of options for restarting the war against Iran, told his aides that he preferred to give diplomacy a chance and that he was willing to extend the 60-day truce, if necessary, for discussions on Iran’s nuclear program.
Source: www.brasildefato.com.br
