U.S.-Iran Indirect Talks in Doha Wrap Up With No Breakthrough, Focus on Strait of Hormuz
By Andrew Mills, Parisa Hafezi and Jacob Bogage
DOHA/DUBAI/VIRGINIA BEACH, Virginia, July 1 (Reuters) — Iran and the United States wrapped up a round of indirect talks in Doha on Wednesday, with no visible progress toward a durable peace. Instead, negotiators spent much of the two-day session revisiting issues that both sides had said were settled when an interim agreement was announced just two weeks earlier, according to sources close to the discussions.
The talks, mediated by Qatari and Pakistani officials, focused on two critical components of the initial deal: restoring safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz and releasing Iranian funds frozen abroad. The strait, through which roughly one-fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas once flowed, has been a flashpoint since the war erupted in February. Although commercial traffic has partially resumed, tensions remain high after an Iranian attack on a cargo ship last weekend triggered retaliatory strikes from U.S. forces.
Iran is pushing for international recognition of its authority over the waterway, two senior Iranian sources said. Tehran has signaled it plans to begin levying tolls on shipping starting in mid-August, once a grace period stipulated in the interim agreement expires. “Hormuz continues to reopen, but it's patchy, unpredictable, and not fully transparent,” said Vandana Hari, founder of oil market analysis firm Vanda Insights.
The next round of discussions is expected after the burial of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, scheduled for July 9, according to Qatar's Foreign Ministry. A ministry spokesperson said the Doha talks had achieved “positive progress” on issues related to the memorandum that halted the war in June and were “building on the outcomes” of an earlier summit in Switzerland.
In Washington, President Donald Trump said both sides were making headway on limiting Iran's nuclear program, which he cited as the primary reason for launching the war alongside Israel. “The denuclearization of Iran is moving along well,” he told reporters. “They've had very good meetings, and we'll see.” But sources familiar with the talks said the nuclear issue was not discussed, as the sessions were largely technical. Vice President JD Vance acknowledged that the matter would be taken up later: “Obviously, we're worried about the nuclear issue; we're going to start talking about that.”
The absence of key U.S. figures added a layer of intrigue. Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, and Steve Witkoff, the top U.S. envoy dispatched for what the White House had called “high-level” talks, did not attend the sessions, according to a source who spoke on condition of anonymity. Iran's delegation was led by Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi.
Oil prices fell to their lowest level in four months on Wednesday after Trump's remarks, as analysts cut their price forecasts for the first time since the war began. Meanwhile, Iran's state media reported that a foreign container ship had run aground in shallow waters outside the shipping lane designated by Iranian authorities, adding to the uncertainty surrounding the waterway.
Several European countries have offered to help clear mines from the Strait of Hormuz, but Germany's Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said his country was unlikely to participate, citing Iran's reluctance to cooperate with international efforts.
The Doha talks highlight the fragile state of the U.S.-Iran truce, which has held for less than a month. Without a clear framework for resolving the status of the strait or addressing Iran's nuclear ambitions, analysts warn that the risk of a return to full-scale conflict remains high.
(Reporting by Reuters bureaus; Writing by Andy Sullivan and Costas Pitas; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Edmund Klamann)