Qatar says technical talks continue despite Hormuz tensions

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement Tuesday that technical talks between Iran and the United States were continuing directly and indirectly despite recent escalation in the Strait of Hormuz, but there were no current high-level meetings between the two sides.

The ministry cited spokesperson Majed Al Ansari as saying US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were in Doha to meet Qatari officials and mediators on regional files, including Iran negotiations and Lebanon, without direct talks with Iranian officials.

“There are currently no high-level meetings between the Iranian and American sides under the approved mechanism for the negotiations,” Al Ansari said.

He said the Strait of Hormuz was among the key issues in the talks, alongside Iran’s nuclear program and the broader regional situation, adding that Qatar rejected any obstruction of maritime navigation through the international waterway.

Al Ansari said the first phase of understandings concerned removing mines and securing passage through the strait, with priority given to the safety of ship and tanker crews.

On frozen Iranian funds, he said Qatar did not own the money and was only acting as a financial mediator under a 2023 US-Iran humanitarian channel agreement.

“The State of Qatar does not own these funds, but rather plays the role of financial mediator in managing these accounts within the framework of the agreement,” he said.

He added that any transfer of the funds depended on agreement between the United States and Iran and progress in negotiations, “which has not happened so far.”