TEHRAN: US President Donald Trump said Iran has requested a meeting that will be held in Qatar on Tuesday, despite Tehran earlier denying that any technical talks on the deal aimed at ending the Middle East war were planned. The announcement came after Iran held its first talks with Oman on managing the Strait of Hormuz since the US-Iran deal was signed, and as Washington and Tehran agreed to halt their attacks, which had strained the agreement.
“IRAN HAS REQUESTED A MEETING. IT WILL TAKE PLACE TOMORROW IN DOHA!” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform on Monday, without specifying the participants. White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt later told Fox News that US envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner “will be flying to Doha for high-level meetings this week”.
Iran’s deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi, however, denied reports that technical talks were “planned for this week”, state TV reported. Nevertheless, a US official also told AFP that the negotiations would continue despite recent strikes. “Both sides will stand down for now and vessels can move freely” in and around the Strait of Hormuz, the official said in an email.
Iran and Oman border the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passed prior to the conflict, and Iran said on Monday they held their first talks since the deal was struck. “During a trip to Muscat, the first meeting of the Joint Hormuz Committee was held,” said Gharibabadi on X. “While reviewing the current issues related to the strait, we exchanged views on the future management.”
In a joint statement following a meeting between French President Emanuel Macron and Omani Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, Paris and Muscat said they would conduct “joint de-mining operations”. In response, Gharibabadi insisted on X that under the agreement only Iran was to conduct de-mining efforts and “no other country”. “The situation is sensitive and complex. We strongly advise France not to complicate it further with its provocations,” he wrote. — AFP