US, Iran officials to hold indirect talks in Doha

DUBAI: Officials from the US and Iran will hold indirect technical talks on their deal aimed at ending the Middle East war, a diplomat with knowledge of the talks told AFP.

“US and Iranian officials are to hold indirect technical talks on Wednesday in Doha with Qatari and Pakistani mediators on the memorandum of understanding, building on the progress made at the Lake Lucerne Summit,” the diplomat said.

US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff will not be taking part in the technical talks, the diplomat added, after they met with Qatar’s prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on Tuesday.

Both the US and Iran had said they would send officials for meetings in Qatar.

The memorandum of understanding, brokered by Qatar and Pakistan, included a 60-day ceasefire in the war that started with US-Israeli strikes on Feb 28, the reopening of the blockaded Strait of Hormuz and a timeframe for a final deal to end the war and reach an agreement on Iran’s nuclear programme.

Iranian officials were set to travel to Doha on Wednesday but Tehran denied an earlier claim by US President Donald Trump that there would be direct talks.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei confirmed the Iranian delegation would be led by deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi but said the officials “have no plans for negotiations with the American side at any level over the coming days”.

Kushner and Witkoff instead met with the Qatari prime minister on Tuesday, the Gulf state’s foreign ministry said.

The trio discussed “the ongoing talks between the US and the Islamic Republic of Iran within the framework of the memorandum of understanding,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that they also discussed developments in Lebanon.