US and Iranian officials will on Wednesday hold indirect technical talks on their deal aimed at ending the Middle East war, a diplomat with knowledge of the talks told AFP.
“US and Iranian officials are to hold indirect technical talks on Wednesday in Doha with Qatari and Pakistani mediators on the memorandum of understanding building on the progress made at the Lake Lucerne Summit,” the diplomat said.
The US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, who met with Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on Tuesday, would not attend the technical talks, according to the diplomat.
“Everyone knows in the back of our minds what this could do for this country,” said US midfielder Gio Reyna.
“We feel the country rallying around us. We see the momentum it’s bringing to the sport in this country, just through the group stage. But we also understand if we make a nice run in this tournament, what it could really do for the sport.”
Both the United States and Iran have stated that they would send officials to meetings in Qatar.
The memorandum of understanding, brokered by Qatar and Pakistan, included a 60-day cease-fire in the war that began with US-Israeli strikes on February 28, the reopening of the blockaded Strait of Hormuz, and a timetable for a final deal to end the war and reach an agreement on Iran’s nuclear programme.
Iranian officials were scheduled to go to Doha on Wednesday, but Tehran dismissed US President Donald Trump’s earlier claim of direct talks.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei acknowledged that the Iranian delegation would be led by Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi but added that the officials “have no plans for negotiations with the American side at any level in the coming days”.
Instead, Kushner and Witkoff met with Qatar’s prime minister on Tuesday, according to the foreign ministry.
The trio discussed “the ongoing talks between the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran within the framework of the memorandum of understanding”, the ministry said in a statement, adding that they also discussed developments in Lebanon.
