By Andrew Mills, Parisa Hafezi and Bo Erickson
DOHA/DUBAI/WASHINGTON, June 29 (Reuters) - Iranian and U.S. negotiating teams were due in Doha this week, but Iran said on Monday no meeting had been scheduled as weekend missile fire from both sides tested the interim ceasefire to end the four-month-old war.
U.S. President Donald Trump is sending his son-in-law Jared Kushner and his envoy Steve Witkoff to lead the negotiating team, according to his press secretary Karoline Leavitt. While Iran is sending its technical delegation to Qatar this week, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said this had "no relation" to the Americans' visit and no talks between the two sides were scheduled.
"We will not have any negotiation meetings at any level with the American side in the coming days," Baghaei said.
The disagreement over whether the sides would even meet underscored the fragility of a June 17 accord to pause a conflict that has disrupted global oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz and created a political headache for Trump ahead of November's congressional elections.
The U.S. and Iran gave themselves at least 60 days to implement the 14-point memorandum of understanding to extend an April ceasefire, discuss Iran's nuclear program and negotiate a permanent truce. But progress has been halting, with each side accusing the other of violating agreed terms.
After the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow chokepoint that previously carried about a fifth of the global oil trade, came to a virtual standstill.
Israel has not joined the U.S.-Iran peace talks and has distanced itself from the agreement. Tensions between Washington and Tehran have complicated efforts to end fighting in Lebanon, where Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, an ally of Iran-backed Hezbollah, has cast doubt on a separate, U.S.-brokered agreement between Lebanon and Israel aimed at halting the conflict.
Closure of the waterway sent oil prices to above $100 a barrel, pushing up global inflation and putting pressure on Trump ahead of the midterm elections that will determine control of the U.S. Congress, where some of his fellow Republicans have criticized the president for waging war without lawmakers' authorization.
A senior Iranian official said there would be a meeting in Doha on Tuesday, but unlike previous technical talks between Iran and U.S. teams in Switzerland, the focus would be on managing the Strait of Hormuz and de-escalating tensions.
Another official with knowledge of the plans said technical teams from the U.S. and Iran are expected to meet separately with Qatari and Pakistani mediators on Wednesday.
UNCERTAINTY IN WASHINGTON
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, "the meeting in Doha is going to be perhaps important, perhaps not. We're going to find out."
At the same time he maintained "we're winning militarily" and repeated his condition that Iran must be stopped from producing a nuclear weapon.
Iran has sought leverage by flexing its control of the strait shared with neighboring Oman, saying it plans to charge fees to ships using the waterway and obstructing vessels that stray outside defined paths.
The U.S. has accused Iran of hitting at least two commercial ships with missiles or drones in recent days and bombed Iranian military facilities in response. Iran in turn launched missiles and drones at U.S. military sites in Kuwait and Bahrain early on Sunday.
Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed members of Congress on Iran by phone on Monday. Republican Senator Steve Daines told reporters they kept their remarks to a minimum but he nonetheless deemed the conversation "constructive."
Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer, however, called the briefing "deficient, and devoid of details."
“After dragging America into a costly war, the Trump administration still can’t name a single thing Americans got in return. Instead, Secretary Rubio confirmed to me that Iran will reap billions in oil revenue while retaining dangerous leverage over the Strait of Hormuz," Schumer said.
RELEASE OF FROZEN IRANIAN ASSETS
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Monday that $6 billion out of $12 billion of assets frozen in Qatar would be released and returned to Iran, Iranian state media reported.
He described the memorandum, which includes U.S. waivers for sanctions on Iran's oil and petrochemical sectors, as "a great victory for the Iranian people."
Oil prices rose more than 1% after weekend hostilities highlighted the fragility of the U.S.-Iran accord.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday said he was working with Oman to de-escalate tensions and would cooperate with partners to de-mine the Strait of Hormuz.
But Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi responded with an X post that the removal of mines was to be carried out solely by Iran according to the 14-point plan. He warned France against complicating the situation.
(Reporting by Andrew Mills in Doha, Parisa Hafezi and Elwelly Elwelly in Dubai; Enas Alashray in Cairo; Bo Erickson, Jacob Bogage, Jonathan Landay, David Morgan and Humeyra Pamuk in Washington; Writing by Sharon Singleton, Jonathan Allen and Daniel Trotta; Editing by Aidan Lewis and Sanjeev Miglani)
