Doha: The team of negotiators from Iran have reached Doha in Qatar for a possible deal with the United States to end the nearly three-months old war in West Asia, an official briefed on the visit said on Monday.
Tehran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and foreign minister Abbas Araghchi will be speaking to Qatar’s prime minister for a potential deal.The discussions are expected to be focused on the reopening of Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, officials told Reuters.
Iran’s central bank governor is also part of the delegation who will primarily discuss the release of Tehran’s frozen assets as part of the final agreement with the US under sanctions waiver, as reported by The Indian Express.
US president Donald Trump said over the weekend that the agreement between Washington and Tehran is “largely negotiated” and a potential deal is emerging to end the conflict. On Monday, he linked the Abraham Accords signing with Iran negotiations and said that talks with Tehran were proceeding “nicely”.
Any ceasefire agreement with Iran would either be a “great and meaningful” deal or there would be no deal at all, Trump added.
The US and Israel launched its offensive against Iran on February 28. The Islamic Republic has insisted that any agreement will have to include an end to fighting on all fronts, including Israel’s offensive in Lebanon.
Most importantly, the talks in Doha could help in reopening the Strait of Hormuz, which deals with the passage of an estimated 20 percent of the world’s oil and natural gas.
There can be a few hiccups though as Iran has been discussing to introduce tolling system for commercial ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz. The Trump administration has rejected the idea and secretary of state Marco Rubio had said that no country should agree to pay any amount for passing the strait.
Focus would also be on Iran’s highly enriched uranium during the discussions in Doha, as America has said that Tehran will have to hand over the stockpile.
If Iran doesn’t give up its enriched uranium stockpile, there will be no sanctions relief, including unfreezing of assets, a US official confirmed to Associated Press.
