Iran and the United States concluded a round of indirect technical talks in Doha on Wednesday with no sign they had made headway toward a lasting peace agreement on Iran’s nuclear program, instead focusing on maritime shipping and frozen assets that negotiators said had already been resolved.
The two-day talks centered on the Strait of Hormuz and unfreezing $6 billion in Iranian funds, according to sources familiar with the discussions. But the nuclear program did not come up, U.S. Vice President JD Vance said, signaling that substantive negotiations on that issue would begin later.
The talks followed a 14-point Memorandum of Understanding signed in mid-June that gave both sides 60 days to negotiate a final deal covering Iran’s nuclear program, sanctions relief, and other issues. With less than two weeks of that window elapsed, the lack of progress on the central nuclear question underscores the difficulty of bridging the two sides’ positions.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi led the Iranian technical delegation. Top negotiators—Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf—did not attend. On the U.S. side, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner met with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani but did not participate in the technical sessions themselves, according to a source.
During the meetings, both sides discussed what Gharibabadi called U.S. “violations of its obligations” and agreed to establish a communication channel to resolve disputes. On the $6 billion in frozen Iranian funds, Gharibabadi said the sides discussed goods Iran needed to purchase, with agreement that required items would be made available to Iran based on its stated needs.
Commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which handles one-fifth of global oil and liquid natural gas trade, has begun to rebound. According to shipping data from Kpler, commercial ship movements rose more than 50 percent in the week of June 22–28 compared with the previous week. However, tensions persist: the two countries exchanged strikes last weekend after an Iranian attack on a cargo ship, and Iran has said it will assess tolls on shipping starting in mid-August once a toll-free period specified in the initial agreement expires.
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said the talks produced “positive progress” on issues related to the memorandum. The next meeting will be scheduled after funeral processions for Iran’s former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a U.S.-Israeli strike in February. Six-day funeral ceremonies are set to begin Saturday in Iran and Iraq.
Sources
- Al Jazeera — Iran-US talks in Doha, participants, what was discussed, and next steps
- Reuters — Details of the indirect talks, focus on Strait of Hormuz and frozen funds, nuclear program not discussed
- CNN — The 14-point Memorandum of Understanding and 60-day negotiation period
