United States envoys arrived in Doha, Qatar, for meetings with mediators, but not directly with Iranian officials, according to Qatar's foreign ministry. The visit aimed to engage in "high-level meetings" related to regional issues.
While a US official initially suggested that both sides would "stand down for now" and that technical talks would continue on "all areas of the MoU," Iran's deputy foreign minister denied plans for technical discussions that week. US President Donald Trump had stated that Iran had requested a meeting in Qatar's capital, leading to the deployment of envoys Witkoff and Kushner.
Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman clarified that the US envoys were in Doha for talks with mediators on a range of regional concerns, including negotiations with Iran, as well as issues related to Lebanon and other files in the region. He emphasized that there were no direct meetings scheduled between the US and Iranian parties in the immediate future.
Technical talks between lower-ranking officials were reportedly ongoing and could potentially be elevated to a senior level later. These discussions were understood to cover multiple tracks, including nuclear matters, economic performance, and regional security. The potential release of $6 billion of frozen Iranian assets held in Qatar was contingent upon progress in talks between the US and Iran, which had not yet occurred. Iran's president had previously indicated that steps to unfreeze these funds were "under way."