Iran has stated that no talks with the United States are planned in the coming days, despite US President Donald Trump’s claim that Tehran had “invited a meeting” and that the talks would take place on 30 June in Qatar.
Esmail Bakai, a spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that an Iranian technical team would visit the Qatari capital, Doha, this week, but that this was unrelated to the visit by US officials to the Arab country.
“In the coming days, we will not be holding talks with the US side at any level, and the fact that US representatives are travelling to Qatar has nothing to do with the Iranian delegation’s trip,” Bakai said.
His comments came after the United States and Iran exchanged barbs over the weekend, leading to an escalation in tensions.
Earlier today, Trump wrote on Truth Social: “Iran has invited us to a meeting. It will take place tomorrow in Doha!”
White House press secretary Caroline Levitt said that Trump’s envoys, Steve Whitcoff and Jared Kushner, would take part in the talks with Iran in Doha.
“Special Envoy Whitcoff and Jared Kushner will travel to Doha this week for high-level meetings, where we will continue to discuss the memorandum of understanding. Technical talks will take place on the sidelines of these high-level talks,” she said in an interview with Fox News on 29 June.
Bakai said that an Iranian technical team was travelling to Doha to discuss the release of around six billion dollars of frozen Iranian assets held in Qatar.
The release of the funds is part of the memorandum of understanding signed by Tehran and Washington on 17 June, aimed at ending the months-long conflict.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Kazem Karibabadi, stated earlier on 29 June that no meeting of the Technical Working Group was scheduled for this week.
“Although consultations with Qatar, particularly regarding further steps to fulfil the other party’s obligations, are continuing as usual, reports in some media outlets that technical working group talks are taking place in Doha cannot be confirmed,” Karibabadi told the Iranian news agency Tasnim.
He added that the first round of technical talks would take place within the framework of the designated working groups as soon as the conditions were in place and an agreement had been reached on the date and venue, and that consultations on this matter were continuing through intermediary countries.
These remarks came after Iranian representatives, citing US attacks on the country and what they described as a breach of the recently agreed Memorandum of Understanding, refused to meet with US negotiators as planned on 28 June.
“One of the reasons is to verify whether we have access to the unfrozen funds. If there is no access, then this condition has not been met,” said Mehdi Fazaeli from the office of Iran’s Supreme Leader.
On 29 June, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian announced that Iranian assets currently held in Qatar would be returned to Tehran, but US officials maintain that, to date, no frozen Iranian assets have been returned.
Iran fired on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz last weekend, prompting US forces to strike Iranian coastal radar stations and military installations in an attempt to protect shipping.
On 28 June, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Arakchi stated that Tehran had regained full control over shipping in the Strait of Hormuz for the next 30 days, warning against any attempts to bypass the routes approved by Iran.
Earlier that same day, Iran launched missiles and drones targeting US military installations in Kuwait and Bahrain, shortly after Trump warned that Washington might step up its military campaign if Tehran failed to comply with the ceasefire agreement.
Trump and Pezeshkian signed a 14-point memorandum of understanding, which gives the parties 60 days to negotiate a final agreement aimed at ending the war.
Qatar, together with Pakistan, is acting as a mediator between Washington and Tehran in the current round of talks.