Iran and the United States concluded a round of indirect talks on Wednesday with no sign they had made headway toward a lasting peace, focusing instead on issues that they said had been resolved when an interim agreement was announced two weeks ago.
Sources said negotiators from the two countries spent two days in Doha discussing maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz and financial incentives for Iran. These were two key parts of the initial agreement they signed in June, rather than the more difficult issues the framework was meant to address.
Qatar & Pakistan mediators concluded separate meetings with the US & Iranian negotiators in Doha today, with positive progress made on issues related to the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, building on the outcomes of the Lake Lucerne Summit. The parties agreed to continue…
— د. ماجد محمد الأنصاري Dr. Majed Al Ansari (@majedalansari) July 1, 2026
In Washington, U.S. President Donald Trump said both sides were making progress on possible limits to Iran’s nuclear program, which was the main reason he launched the war in February. “The denuclearization of Iran is moving along well,” he told reporters. “They’ve had very good meetings, and we’ll see.”
However, sources said the nuclear issue did not come up in the talks, which were technical in nature.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance said that issue would be addressed later. “Obviously, we’re worried about the nuclear issue; we’re going to start talking about that,” he told reporters.
The two sides did not meet face to face. Instead, they spoke separately through mediators from Qatar and Pakistan.
Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and top U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, who were sent to the region for what the White House called “high-level” talks, did not attend the meetings, according to a source who spoke on condition of anonymity. The head of Iran’s delegation, Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, said the talks had ended. Neither side said whether they had resolved their differences.
The initial agreement requires Iran and the United States to allow shipping to resume through the Strait of Hormuz, which handled one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas before the war.
Although traffic has partly resumed, the situation in the strategic waterway remains unclear. The two countries also exchanged strikes last weekend after an Iranian attack on a cargo ship.
