Qatar Says No Direct U.S.-Iran Meetings Scheduled This Week

Qatari officials announced Tuesday that no direct technical talks or meetings between U.S. and Iranian representatives are scheduled while both sides are in Doha this week. Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said in a statement that President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff will instead meet with mediators to discuss negotiations.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei confirmed Tuesday that Iranian diplomats will be in Qatar for two days but will not meet with U.S. officials. Officials will also address the status of $6 billion of frozen Iranian assets held in Qatar, according to Baghaei.

Al-Ansari said Tuesday that the assets had not been transferred to Iran and that procedural negotiations had not taken place. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Monday that $6 billion of the $12 billion in funds held in Qatar would be released and returned.

The indirect discussions come after both sides exchanged military strikes over the weekend, threatening to destroy an already fragile ceasefire agreement. The two countries signed the U.S.-backed memorandum of understanding earlier in June in Geneva, which established a ceasefire and a 60-day negotiating window.

The negotiations are intended to address the future of Iran's nuclear program, sanctions relief and control over the Strait of Hormuz.