(July 1): US President Donald Trump said progress had been made in indirect talks with Iran, as the two countries seek to move past last week’s tit-for-tat strikes and convert their interim truce into a lasting peace.
Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and envoy Steve Witkoff visited Qatar on Tuesday for technical discussions on the initial agreement, which set a 60-day negotiating period between Washington and Tehran. Talks were set to continue on Wednesday, AFP reported, citing an unidentified diplomat, adding that Kushner and Witkoff wouldn’t participate.
“They have had very good meetings, and we will see. We hit them very hard for three nights, as you know, but we are getting along very well, so I call it the denuclearisation, and it’s all taking place,” Trump said, without specifying what, if any, breakthroughs were made.
The truce was on shaky ground last week when the US and Iran traded retaliatory strikes following an Iranian drone attack on a commercial vessel around the Strait of Hormuz.
The attack was a clear sign that Tehran is seeking to maintain a degree of control over the critical waterway, against the wishes of the Trump administration. That debate is one of the main sticking point in the talks, as well as the future of Iran’s nuclear programme.
Trump has privately weighed a return to all-out war with Iran and has held conversations with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Dan Caine about military options but has opted to stick with talks for now, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing an unnamed US official.
See also: US says its negotiators had positive talks on Iran deal
“Well, I think they have come a long way. We hit them very hard last week. I think they are fine,” Trump said on Wednesday when asked about the report. “It’s very simple, and Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.”
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