Qatar says US-Iran mediation efforts continuing but no direct talks planned

The Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global oil and gas shipments usually pass, has effectively been closed since the start of the US and Israel’s war with Iran in late February due to Iranian attacks on vessels and a US blockade of Iranian ports.

In mid-June, the US and Iran signed a preliminary agreement to end their conflict and reopen the strait. However, it fell apart within weeks, as a dispute over control of the waterway and Iranian attacks triggered an escalating exchange of strikes.

On Saturday, Trump said he had called off what he described as a “massive attack” by US and Israeli forces on Iran after Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar had urged restraint to allow mediators time to broker a new deal on the Strait of Hormuz and “the denuclearisation of Iran”.

The president said talks with Iran were due to begin on Monday afternoon.

But Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baqai dismissed the idea that it was talking directly to the US and said there was no plan to receive or send a delegation.

Instead, he said Iran was having “constructive” negotiations with Oman over “a path to ensure the security of shipping passage through the Strait of Hormuz”.

Baqai also said that an agreement on a new arrangement would be “necessary but not sufficient” to reopen the strait, suggesting that Iran would continue to stop ships going through as long as the US blockade of Iranian ports remained in place.

Hours later, Trump hit back in a post on Truth Social, calling Iran’s leadership “unbelievably duplicitous”. He said they had asked for a meeting and that more talks were scheduled in the “immediate future”.

At a news conference in Doha on Tuesday, the Qatari foreign ministry’s spokesman said he could confirm that efforts by Qatar, Pakistan and Oman were “still ongoing with all the parties” and that they were “in very progressive stages”.

“We are co-ordinating very closely with the Omanis to facilitate the talks between both sides, exchanging ideas, drafts between both sides,” Ansari told reporters.

“Our focus right now is on avoiding escalation, reopening the strait and reopening the door for diplomacy between the parties,” he added.

He also said there was not “anything on the books as far as direct talks”.

A senior Pakistani security official also told Reuters news agency: “A lot is happening in the background… We are talking to both sides.”

No details about the potential agreement between Iran and Oman over the Strait of Hormuz have been released by the two countries or the mediators.

But Iranian officials told the New York Times, external that shipping entering the Gulf would use a route controlled by Iran that was close to its coast, and that outbound shipping would use a route that was close to Oman’s coast.

The officials also reportedly said the agreement included a “service fee” to cover the environmental impact, security and staffing.

A US official told the newspaper that the Iranian account was not accurate, and that any “temporary” routes would not involve Iranian approval or tolls.