U.S. and Iranian Negotiators Meet Separately in Qatar and Agree to Resume Talks

U.S. and Iranian negotiators met separately on Wednesday with Qatari and Pakistani mediators in Qatar and agreed to continue discussions, according to NPR reported. The next meeting is scheduled at the earliest possible time after the funeral of Iran's late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which begins Saturday in Tehran.

U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with Qatar's ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and its foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. Iran's top negotiator Kazem Gharibabadi attended parallel sessions with the same mediators.

Iran's delegation had no direct talks with the American side, Gharibabadi said. Discussions covered traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. Vice President JD Vance stated. "Obviously, we're worried about the nuclear issue.

We're going to start talking about that," Vance said. Iran's talks with mediators also addressed Lebanon and plans to return some of Iran's frozen assets, according to Iranian state media. A foreign container ship ran aground in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday while using a route not approved by Iran, Iranian state television reported.

Iran and the United States had agreed in an interim deal to allow ships to pass without paying charges for 60 days, but Tehran insists it must control vessel routes and later charge fees. An effort by Oman and a U.N. agency to open a new route near Oman's shore sparked attacks across the Mideast last weekend.

Iranian state TV said the grounded ship ran aground with its cargo because of shallow waters and urged shippers to follow instructions from Iran's Revolutionary Guard. Ten of 11 Thai-flagged vessels or vessels chartered by Thai operators have departed the strait safely, the Thai Foreign Ministry said. All but two of South Korea's 26 stranded vessels have also left, South Korean officials said.