{"id":1519392,"date":"2026-06-30T14:42:34","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T19:42:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/?p=1519392"},"modified":"2026-06-30T14:42:34","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T19:42:34","slug":"us-envoys-arrive-in-qatar-for-meetings-on-iran-with-tensions-high-over-hormuz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/?p=1519392","title":{"rendered":"US envoys arrive in Qatar for meetings on Iran, with tensions high over Hormuz"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/wp-content\/media\/2026\/06\/WITKOOFF.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"1440\" height=\"960\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1519396\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/wp-content\/media\/2026\/06\/WITKOOFF.webp 1440w, https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/wp-content\/media\/2026\/06\/WITKOOFF-200x133.webp 200w, https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/wp-content\/media\/2026\/06\/WITKOOFF-1017x678.webp 1017w, https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/wp-content\/media\/2026\/06\/WITKOOFF-768x512.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px\" \/>DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) \u2014 Two U.S. envoys arrived in Qatar on Tuesday for talks with mediators about the implementation of an initial deal to end the war in Iran, an official said.<\/p>\n<p>The visit by Steve Witkoff, U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s special Mideast envoy, and Jared Kushner, his son-in-law, comes after a weekend of crossfire in the Persian Gulf over efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to shipping traffic.<\/p>\n<p>The envoys won\u2019t be having direct negotiations with Iranian diplomats while in Qatar\u2019s capital, Doha, said Majed al-Ansari, a spokesman for Qatar\u2019s Foreign Ministry. Instead, mediators are working for the time being as go-betweens for the talks, which won\u2019t include any high-level officials, he added.<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. and Iran have held indirect negotiations before. However, the two previous rounds collapsed and preceded the 12-day war Israel launched against Iran in 2025 and this year\u2019s war, launched jointly by the U.S. and Iran on Feb. 28.<\/p>\n<p>Iran is also sending a delegation to Qatar this week. Iran\u2019s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Tuesday that Iran has had no plans for a meeting with the American side at any level in the coming days.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat will take place in Doha tomorrow is a discussion with the Qatari side about implementing parts of the memorandum of understanding, including the release of Iran\u2019s blocked assets,\u201d Baghaei told journalists at his own briefing.<\/p>\n<p>It is possible the two sides could exchange messages through the Qatari mediators.<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. and Iran agreed to an interim deal earlier this month that calls for Tehran to dilute its stockpile of enriched uranium. It also waives U.S.-backed oil sanctions on the country, calls for free traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and gives each side 60 days to hammer out broader agreements.<\/p>\n<p>Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Monday that Qatar plans to release $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive negotiations, confirmed the release amount, saying it would be used to buy U.S. food products for the Iranian people.<\/p>\n<p>A fifth of the world\u2019s oil was shipped through the Strait of Hormuz before the war began. Iran\u2019s attacks and threats stopped cargo ships and tankers from moving through the strait, creating a global energy crisis.<\/p>\n<p>The strait has long been considered an international waterway despite being in Iran and Oman\u2019s territorial waters.<\/p>\n<p>Both sides traded strikes amid efforts last week to open Oman\u2019s territorial waters in the strait to both inbound and outbound ship traffic from the Persian Gulf. That raised concerns that negotiations to formally end the war could be disrupted.<\/p>\n<p>Iran twice attacked vessels in the strait \u2014 including a tanker filled with Qatari crude \u2014 and drew retaliatory American airstrikes. Iran also launched drone and missile attacks targeting Bahrain and Kuwait on Sunday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) \u2014 Two U.S. envoys arrived in Qatar on Tuesday for talks with mediators about the implementation of an initial deal to end the war in Iran, an official said. The visit by Steve Witkoff, U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s special Mideast envoy, and Jared Kushner, his son-in-law, comes after a weekend &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/?p=1519392\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">US envoys arrive in Qatar for meetings on Iran, with tensions high over Hormuz<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":1519396,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1502,1504],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1519392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abc-heads","category-abc-world-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":true,"date":"2026-07-02 14:38:56","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[0],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1519392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1519392"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1519392\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1519397,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1519392\/revisions\/1519397"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1519396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1519392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1519392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1519392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}