US, Iran enter indirect talks to secure deal

The US and Iran held technical talks in Doha yesterday as they seek to agree on the flow of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and secure a lasting ceasefire, a source with direct knowledge of the talks and an Iranian official said.

US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and envoy Steve Witkoff met the prime minister of Qatar — a mediator in the talks alongside Pakistan — to lay groundwork for the negotiations, but would not be attending the discussions themselves, the source with direct knowledge of the talks said.

The talks are based on a 14-point interim accord signed last month that was meant to halt the war that began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran in February and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, whilst setting up 60 days of negotiations for a permanent peace deal.

However, the US and Iran have sparred publicly over the meaning of the interim pact, leading to tit-for-tat strikes over the past week.

Iran is determined to win international recognition of its control over the strait and its ability to levy fees on ships entering or leaving the Gulf even if it has to do so by force, two senior Iranian sources said yesterday.

Traffic has partially resumed through the strait, which handled one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas trade before the war, reports Reuters.

The talks in Doha are structured as sessions between chief negotiators and specialists, the source with knowledge of the talks said. They began on Tuesday night and were continuing yesterday, said the Iranian official.

Trump said yesterday the United States was getting along very well with Iran and that recent meetings in Qatar went well. “The denuclearization of Iran is moving along well,” Trump told reporters as he prepared to board his new Qatar-gifted Air Force One plane for a trip to North Dakota. “They’ve had very good meetings, and we’ll see.”

Iran has stated publicly that its priorities include agreeing on management of the strait and the release of $6 billion in Iranian frozen assets, and the Iranian official said the current round of discussions would focus on those two issues.

The stated priority of the US is to ensure the free flow of traffic through the strait, the source with knowledge of the talks said.

Iran’s state media said yesterday a foreign container ship had run aground in the Strait of Hormuz after entering shallow waters outside the shipping route designated by Iranian authorities.

“Hormuz continues to reopen but it’s patchy, unpredictable, and not fully transparent,” said Vandana Hari, founder of oil market analysis provider Vanda Insights.

The interim deal between the US and Iran also provides for an end to the conflict between Israel and Iran-backed group Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Israel’s defence minister warned yesterday that Israeli forces would remain in so-called security zones established in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza, without any timeline for withdrawal, reports AFP.

The US has backed a separate track of talks between Israel and Lebanon’s government, which produced a framework security deal that Hezbollah has dismissed and analysts warn could entrench a stalemate in Lebanon.

There had been intensive diplomatic activity on Lebanon between parties including the US up to Tuesday evening, the source with knowledge of the talks said.