On Sunday night, a US official said both sides would “stand down for now”, and that vessels could “move freely” in and around the strait. Technical talks would also “continue on all areas of the MoU”, the official added.
The next day, Iran’s deputy foreign minister and lead technical negotiator, Kazem Gharibabadi, denied that there were plans for technical talks this week.
US President Donald Trump responded by saying that Iran had requested a meeting in Qatar’s capital on Tuesday, and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that Witkoff and Kushner would fly to Doha for “high-level meetings”.
On Tuesday, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman told a news conference that the two US envoys had arrived in Doha for talks with mediators but not Iranian officials.
“The talks will be around all regional issues which are of concern, including, of course, the negotiations with Iran, but also including Lebanon and other files in the region,” he said.
“So, they are not here for direct negotiations with the Iranians or related meetings.”
He added: “To the best of my knowledge, there are no direct meetings scheduled between the two parties in the coming days.”
Ansari confirmed that technical talks between lower-ranking officials were continuing and could later be elevated to senior level.
“We have a track on the nuclear side. We have a track on the economic and state performance issue. We have a track on security and the regional security,” he added.
He also said the release of $6bn (£4.5bn) of the $12bn in frozen Iranian assets held in Qatar depended on progress in talks between the US and Iran that had not yet happened.
Iran’s president said on Monday that the steps to unfreeze the funds were “under way”.