Trump Says US-Iran Meeting to Be Held in Qatar Today

United States President Donald Trump has said that Iran has requested a meeting to be held on Tuesday in Qatar, even as Tehran denied any plans for direct negotiations with Washington regarding a deal aimed at ending the war in the Middle East. The announcement came after Iran held its first talks with Oman on managing the Strait of Hormuz since the US-Iran deal was signed, and as Washington and Tehran agreed to halt their attacks which had previously strained the agreement. “Iran has requested a meeting. It will take place tomorrow (Tuesday, 30/6) in Doha,” Trump wrote on Monday on his Truth Social platform, without specifying the participants. White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt later told Fox News that US envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner “will be flying to Doha for high-level meetings this week”. Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said a delegation of experts from his country would travel to Doha this week, but firmly denied any face-to-face meeting with the American side. “We have not entered the stage of negotiating a final deal,” he said, adding that “over the next few days, we will not hold any negotiating meetings with the US side at any level”. Iran’s control over the highly strategic strait has sparked a series of tensions, the latest occurring on Sunday morning when US Central Command said it had struck 10 Iranian military targets over “Iran’s continued aggression against commercial shipping”. Iran stated it retaliated with attacks on US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain. The blockade remains a crucial point in negotiations. Iran and Oman both border the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passed before the conflict. Iran said on Monday it had held its first talks since the deal was reached. “During a visit to Muscat, the first meeting of the Joint Hormuz Committee was held,” Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said on X. The strait consists of the territorial waters of Oman and Iran, but under international law, neither can generally block the passage or charge tolls. Iran warned on Sunday that any attempt by vessels to pass through its chosen route in Hormuz would “increase tensions” in the Middle East. Iran insists that ships transiting the strait pass through a corridor near its coastline.