Trump Announces U.S.-Iran Doha Meeting After Days of Hostilities Threatened MoU Talks

President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. and Iran will meet in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday after days of tit-for-tat hostilities that threatened to unravel a preliminary agreement to end the war.

Trump wrote on Monday in a Truth Social post, “IRAN HAS REQUESTED A MEETING,” and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Fox News’s “Fox & Friends” that special envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff would travel to Qatar to participate in the “high-level meetings” this week.

Al Jazeera

Leavitt said “technical talks are slated to continue this week,” and a White House official told TIME that when in Qatar, Kushner and Witkoff “will continue regional dialogue on various aspects” of the memorandum of understanding signed earlier this month.

The TIME report said the U.S. and Iran signed the memorandum of understanding on June 17 and began a 60-day negotiation period toward a final deal to reopen the Strait and permanently end the war that the U.S. and Israel launched on Feb. 28.

A U.S. official told Reuters that “Both sides will stand down for now and vessels can move freely,” while the exchange of attacks last week was tied to conflicting interpretations of the MoU’s terms on the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said in a press briefing that “In the coming days, we have no negotiation meetings at any level with the American side.”

Baghaei added that the fact that U.S. representatives are travelling to Qatar has “no connection with the trip of theIranian delegation,” which he said is being undertaken to follow up on the implementation of the provisions of the memorandum of understanding, including Article 11.

Al Jazeera

The ANI report said Baghaei stressed that “We have not yet entered the negotiation phase for the final agreement,” and that negotiations on a final agreement can begin only after implementation of Articles 1, 4, 5, 10, and 11 has started and continues.

ANI also said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that Trump wants to see the peace process continue and urged Iran to reach an agreement with Washington as technical talks continue following the signing of the 14-point Memorandum of Understanding to end the hostilities in West Asia.

In the same ANI account, Trump wrote on Truth Social, “Iranhas requested a meeting. It will take place tomorrow in Doha!” while the report described the planned meeting as part of efforts to resolve a dispute over control of maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian officials tied the next phase of talks to whether the U.S. implements key MoU provisions, with Esmail Baghaei saying launching any negotiations on a final agreement is “contingent upon the initiation and continued implementation of paragraphs 1, 4, 5, 10, and 11.”

Baghaei said Iran’s priority is “to ensure the implementation of the provisions of the MoU,” and he rejected reports that technical talks with the United States are planned for later this week.

The PressTV report said Baghaei also stated that Iran is specifically pressing the U.S. to keep its commitments regarding the provisional lifting of sanctions on Iranian oil exports and the release of Iran's blocked funds.

In the same account, Baghaei said a planned visit by an Iranian delegation to Doha later this week is in line with efforts to have the blocked funds released, and that the delegation will not hold talks with U.S. negotiators there.

Time reported that traffic through the Strait fell sharply after the flare-up and that analysts warned disruptions to shipping could extend the timeline for gas prices to return to pre-war levels, while the Strait of Hormuz remained a key point of contention between the U.S. and Iran.