Donald Trump has claimed that Iran has agreed to hold talks in Doha after the US and Iran traded fire in the strait of Hormuz this weekend threatening the collapse of a ceasefire meant to keep open the strait of Hormuz and pave the way for peace talks.
In a terse post on Truth Social, the US president claimed that the meetings would take place in the Qatari capital, as US media reported that the two sides had agreed to halt strikes following tit-for-tat attacks that once again cut off shipping through the crucial waterway.
“IRAN HAS REQUESTED A MEETING. IT WILL TAKE PLACE TOMORROW IN DOHA! President DJT,” Trump wrote in all capital letters.
The announcement came after Iran on Saturday targeted a cargo ship in the strait of Hormuz in a drone attack, leading US Central Command (Centcom) to launch retaliatory strikes against Iranian “military surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, air defense sites, drone storage facilities and minelayer capabilities”.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) then said on Sunday it had launched a joint missile and drone operation targeting eight US military sites in Kuwait and Bahrain.
With the deal faltering, the White House stepped in to seek an off-ramp from the resuming hostilities, even as the specifics of who will hold control over the strait of Hormuz and whether Iran can charge fees for passage in the future remains unclear.
The White House spokeswoman, Karoline Leavitt, told Fox News that a US delegation to Doha would include Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner. Iranian negotiators are expected to meet them there.
Axios, a US website, reported that the talks would also include “technical teams” meant to discuss Iran’s nuclear programme, indicating that pre-planned negotiations may now focus on how to prevent a return to open conflict between the US and Iran.
Vice-President JD Vance last week credited new high-level contacts with the Iranian government with preventing a new outbreak of violence in the region. A US official told Axios that the US had “decided to stop all the kinetic activity”, meaning strikes against Iran, in advance of the talks.
