Qatar revealed that direct talks between the United States and Iran still weren’t taking place, though it voiced optimism about “progress” being made.President Donald Trump has claimed that talks are underway, a charge Tehran denied. Qatar subtly took the side of Iran on the matter in a Ministry of Foreign Affairs readout, saying that adviser to the prime minister and spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Majed bin Mohammed al Ansari “stressed the importance of returning to the negotiating table as the optimal off-ramp to address the ongoing disputes.”He was more direct in speaking to reporters, with Xinhua News reporting that he said, “Right now we don’t have anything on the books when it comes to direct talks.”
“But we are hopeful that if we can get a resumption of the talks anytime soon, we’d be able to push forward towards a major deal,” al Ansari added.This was backed up by a senior Pakistani security official speaking with Reuters, who said mediators’ “sole goal at this moment is to make both parties at least agree to start talking.”IRANIAN EXPERTS ESTIMATE ECONOMIC LOSSES FROM OPERATION EPIC FURY AT $280 BILLIONWhile Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs was careful to avoid any abrasive language, the admission is likely to anger Trump, who has publicly voiced confidence that a deal may be within reach. It also casts doubt on Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s assertion that a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz could be in the cards within a couple of days.Trump has vacillated between threatening doomsday strikes against Iran to end the war and giving diplomacy another chance as the war drags into another month. All hope established with June’s memorandum of understanding, which was supposed to end the war, has dissipated, with trust lost on both sides.
