US and Iran peace negotiators head to Doha, meeting uncertain

DUBAI/WASHINGTON - Iranian and US negotiating teams were due in Doha this week, but Iran said no meeting had been scheduled as weekend missile fire from both sides tested the interim ceasefire to end the four-month-old war.

US President Donald Trump is sending his son-in-law Jared Kushner and his envoy Steve Witkoff to lead the negotiating team, according to his press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

And Iran is sending its technical delegation to Qatar this week, but Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said this had “no relation” to the Americans’ visit and no talks between the two sides were scheduled.

“We will not have any negotiation meetings at any level with the American side in the coming days,” Baghaei said.

The disagreement over whether the sides would even meet underscored the fragility of a June 17 accord that paused a conflict that has disrupted global oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz and created a political headache for Trump ahead of November’s congressional elections.

The US and Iran gave themselves at least 60 days to implement the 14-point memorandum of understanding to extend an April ceasefire, discuss Iran’s nuclear energy and research programmes and stockpile of highly enriched uranium that Trump had wanted to remove, and negotiate a permanent truce.

But progress has been halting, with each side accusing the other of violating agreed terms.

After the US and Israel attacked Iran on Feb 28, maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow chokepoint that previously carried about a fifth of the global oil trade, came to a virtual standstill.

Israel has not joined the US-Iran peace talks and has distanced itself from the agreement.

Closure of the waterway sent oil prices to above US$100 (S$129) a barrel, pushing up global inflation and putting pressure on Trump ahead of the midterm elections that will determine control of the US Congress, where some of his fellow Republicans have criticised the president waging war without lawmakers’ authorisation.

A senior Iranian official said there would be a meeting in Doha on June 30, but unlike previous technical talks between Iran and US teams in Switzerland, the focus would be on managing the Strait of Hormuz and de-escalating tensions.

Another official with knowledge of the plans said technical teams from the US and Iran are expected to meet separately with Qatari and Pakistani mediators on July 1.

In the latest ceasefire agreement, Iran agreed to “make arrangements using its best efforts for the safe passage” of tankers and other commercial ships through the strait.

After the signing, there was a brief surge in shipping traffic, which proved short-lived after Iran said it would stop vessels not following shipping channels it had approved.

Flexing its control of the strait shared with neighbouring Oman, Iran has also said it plans to charge fees to ships using the strait after the 60 days have passed, which was not so before the war, angering Trump.

The US has accused Iran of hitting at least two commercial ships in the strait with missiles or drones in recent days and bombed Iranian military facilities over the weekend.

Iran in turn launched missiles and drones at US military sites in Kuwait and Bahrain early on June 28.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on June 29 that US$6 billion out of US$12 billion of assets frozen in Qatar would be released following the accord and returned to Iran, Iranian state media reported.

He described the memorandum, which includes US waivers for sanctions on Iran’s oil and petrochemical sectors, as “a great victory for the Iranian people.”

The senior Iranian official said Qatar and Iran were in the final stages of agreeing on technicalities for the release of the first US$6 billion of frozen assets, which he said would be issued in two tranches.

Oil prices rose on June 29 with Brent crude futures up almost 1 per cent after the weekend tension highlighted the fragility of the US-Iran accord.

French President Emmanuel Macron on June 29 said he was working with Oman to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East and would cooperate with partners to de-mine the Strait of Hormuz.

“We have decided to collaborate, in conjunction with our partners, on clearing mines from the Strait in order to secure maritime routes and guarantee free and unconditional passage through the Strait of Hormuz,” Macron wrote on social media after meeting with Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said at the Elysee Palace.

The tensions between Washington and Tehran have also complicated efforts to end fighting in Lebanon. Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, an ally of Iran-backed Hezbollah, has cast doubt on a US-brokered agreement between Lebanon and Israel aimed at halting the conflict.

Berri warned on June 29 that the deal could lead to attempts to divide Lebanese and said it would not be implemented.

The latest round of conflict in Lebanon began after Hezbollah struck Israel early in the war, in what it said was support of its backer Iran. Israel invaded in March, leading to mass displacement and more than 4,000 deaths in Lebanon.

The US-Iran ceasefire agreement signed in June explicitly includes an ending of hostilities in Lebanon, and Iran has said this must include Israel removing its troops from southern Lebanon. REUTERS