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President Trump says meeting with Iran will be ‘perhaps important, perhaps not’
The U.S. and Iran are sending delegations to Qatar, but Tehran denies plans for direct talks following recent military strikes.
Supervising Producer
WASHINGTON —
The U.S. and Iran are sending delegations to Qatar for discussions to end the more than four-month war between their countries, but the goals of the talks are unclear.
President Donald Trump addressed the upcoming meeting, saying, “The meeting in Doha is going to be perhaps important, perhaps not. We’re going to find out, but we’re winning militarily. It’s almost won militarily, I would say.”
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The U.S. and Iran are making conflicting statements about what will take place while their teams are in Qatar. Trump said the Islamic Republic requested a meeting with the U.S. on Tuesday, but Iran’s senior negotiators denied that any talks had been scheduled.
Tehran insists it will not meet the U.S. directly after American forces carried out two bombings of Iran in response to Iran’s attacks on commercial ships. The U.S. and Iran have paused bombings for now. A U.S. official said Monday both sides will stand down.
On Monday, the White House confirmed that Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, were flying to Qatar. They’re part of the team led by Vice President JD Vance that is negotiating a permanent end to the war. Vance is not expected to attend the talks.
The entire team was present for a face-to-face meeting last week in Switzerland. Lower-level talks were already set for this week.
Earlier this month, both sides agreed to an interim deal for Tehran to dilute its stockpile of enriched uranium, which can be used to build a nuclear weapon. The agreement gives both sides 60 days to negotiate broader agreements.
Hostilities had been escalating in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway that handles nearly one-fifth of the world’s oil traffic. Iran’s Foreign Minister has insisted Tehran must control the Strait, despite threats from the Trump administration to keep it open.
On Sunday, Iran attacked commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz and targeted American allies in Bahrain and Kuwait.
This was in response to attacks on Friday and Saturday from the U.S. for separate Iranian bombings of commercial ships on Thursday and Saturday. U.S. Central Command shared video of the strikes from Saturday.
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