Iran said on Monday that its delegation will travel to Doha, Qatar but will not hold direct talks with U.S. officials, contradicting President Donald Trump’s assertion that negotiations would take place there Tuesday, The New York Times reported.
Trump said on Monday that Iran has requested a meeting with the United States, with talks set to take place on Tuesday.
“IRAN HAS REQUESTED A MEETING. IT WILL TAKE PLACE TOMORROW IN DOHA! President DJT,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account.
According to the report, Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, said the delegation would instead engage with Qatari mediators to press Washington to uphold commitments tied to a fragile ceasefire.
The White House said senior advisers Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff were en route to Qatar for discussions, the Times reported.
The developments come as the United States and the Islamic Republic look to de-escalate recent flare-ups in the Gulf. The interim agreement—the Memorandum of Understanding—between Tehran and Washington signed on June 17 was tested over the weekend when Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps reportedly struck a cargo vessel and a commercial tanker with one-way attack drones in separate incidents on Thursday and Saturday, prompting U.S. forces to launch retaliatory strikes on Iranian military sites. Iran then fired missiles and drones at U.S. military bases in Kuwait and Bahrain on Sunday.
