By Jon Gambrell
The Associated Press
June 30, 2026 - 6:57 am
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Two U.S. envoys arrived successful Qatar connected Tuesday for talks with mediators astir the implementation of an archetypal woody to extremity the warfare successful Iran, an authoritative said.
The sojourn by Steve Witkoff, U.S. President Donald Trump’s peculiar Mideast envoy, and Jared Kushner, his son-in-law, comes aft a play of crossfire successful the Persian Gulf implicit efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to shipping traffic.
The envoys won’t beryllium having nonstop negotiations with Iranian diplomats portion successful Qatar’s capital, Doha, said Majed al-Ansari, a spokesperson for Qatar’s Foreign Ministry. Instead, mediators are moving for the clip being arsenic go-betweens for the talks, which won’t see immoderate high-level officials, helium added.
Such indirect negotiations person happened successful the past betwixt Iran and the U.S. However, the 2 erstwhile rounds of talks collapsed into the 12-day warfare Israel launched against Iran successful 2025 and the caller Iran war.
“We’re not expecting immoderate high-level Iranian officials astatine the moment, but arsenic I said, the method meetings are ongoing … and they haven’t stopped since then,” al-Ansari told journalists astatine a play quality conference.
Iran was besides sending a delegation to Qatar this week. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said Tuesday that Iran has had nary plans for a gathering with the American broadside astatine immoderate level successful the coming days.
“What volition instrumentality spot successful Doha time is simply a treatment with the Qatari broadside astir implementing parts of the memorandum of understanding, including the merchandise of Iran’s blocked assets,” Baghaei told journalists astatine his ain briefing.
However, that near unfastened the anticipation of messages being passed to the Qataris betwixt the 2 sides.
The U.S. and Iran agreed to an interim woody earlier this period that calls for Tehran to dilute its stockpile of enriched uranium. It besides waives U.S.-backed lipid sanctions connected the country, calls for escaped postulation done the Strait of Hormuz and gives each broadside 60 days to hammer retired broader agreements.
A 5th of the world’s lipid was shipped done the Strait of Hormuz earlier the warfare began Feb. 28. Iran’s attacks and threats stopped cargo ships and tankers from moving done the strait, creating a planetary vigor crisis.
The strait has agelong been considered an planetary waterway contempt being successful Iran and Oman’s territorial waters.
Both sides traded strikes amid efforts past week to unfastened Oman’s territorial waters successful the strait to some inbound and outbound vessel postulation from the Persian Gulf. That raised concerns that negotiations to formally extremity the warfare could beryllium disrupted.
Iran doubly attacked vessels successful the strait — including a tanker filled with Qatari crude — and drew retaliatory American airstrikes. Iran besides launched drone and rocket attacks targeting Bahrain and Kuwait connected Sunday.
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