US President Donald Trump said indirect talks between the US and Iran in Qatar are making progress. Speaking to reporters before boarding a Qatar Airways aircraft, Trump said the meetings in Doha went 'very well'.
Iran, however, stressed that there would be no direct negotiations with the US. Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Ismail Bekai said the Iranian delegation was led by Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, but 'there are no plans for negotiations at any level with the American side in the coming days'.
The talks are continuing with Qatar and Pakistan mediating under the framework of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed last month in Lucerne, Switzerland. The agreement envisions a 60-day ceasefire, the reopening of the blockaded Strait of Hormuz, and a timeline for a final deal on Iran's nuclear program.
A diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity said the technical-level discussions are focusing on the details of the MOU and 'building on the progress made at the Lucerne Summit'. US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff met with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on Tuesday but did not attend the technical sessions.
Trump said Iran's nuclear disarmament is 'progressing well', adding, 'We hit them very hard... But we get along very well.' The crossfire that occurred since the signing of the agreement appears to have calmed ahead of the talks in Qatar. The US Central Command said it struck 10 Iranian targets after Iran targeted a commercial vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, and Iran retaliated against US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain.
Iran's chief negotiator Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf said implementation challenges, incidents and differences of opinion are inevitable after the end of the war. Ghalibaf also emphasized Iran's commitment to implementing the agreement.
Analysts noted that the parties are sending different messages to the public. Anna Jacobs from the Arab Gulf States Institute said the process is still in its early stages and negotiations are taking place both privately and publicly. H. A. Helyer, an analyst at the Royal United Services Institute in London, said there is a 'lack of transparency' and that both sides are sending 'very different public messages'.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah, backed by Iran, drew Lebanon into the war last month by firing rockets at Israel, leading to Israeli airstrikes and a ground operation. Tehran insists that any deal must include an end to the fighting in Lebanon and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the region.
