Indirect negotiations between the United States and Iran have made positive progress during talks hosted in the Qatari capital, Doha, according to Qatar's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari.

In a statement posted on X, Al-Ansari said Qatari and Pakistani mediators had concluded separate meetings with negotiators from both the US and Iranian sides. He noted that discussions produced "positive progress" on issues related to a memorandum of understanding previously signed in Islamabad, as well as outcomes stemming from the Lake Lucerne Summit.

The Qatari official added that all parties agreed to continue discussions in the next phase, with a new round of negotiations expected to be scheduled soon. According to Al-Ansari, the date for the upcoming meeting will be determined after the completion of funeral ceremonies for Iran's martyred leader, Ali Khamenei, whom Iranian authorities say was killed in a joint US-Israeli attack on February 28.

The diplomatic activity follows talks held in Doha on July 1 aimed at overcoming a deadlock in efforts to end the US-Israeli war against Iran.

However, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister and chief nuclear negotiator, Kazem Gharibabadi, firmly denied reports that any direct meeting had taken place between American and Iranian delegations in Doha.

Speaking after a series of meetings in the Qatari capital, Gharibabadi said his delegation's only face-to-face discussions were with Qatari and Pakistani mediators and focused exclusively on reviewing implementation of the Islamabad memorandum of understanding.

His remarks came in response to reports citing diplomatic sources that suggested indirect technical discussions were taking place through Gulf and South Asian intermediaries. Those reports also claimed that US representatives Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff were not directly involved in the talks, although they had separately met with Qatar's prime minister a day earlier to discuss Lebanon's fragile ceasefire.

Gharibabadi also accused Washington of failing to fulfill its commitments under the memorandum, particularly regarding developments related to Lebanon. He stressed that all provisions of the agreement constitute a single, inseparable package and announced that a dedicated monitoring mechanism would be launched to document any violations.

In a significant economic development, the Iranian official revealed that Tehran had reached an agreement with Qatar to release a portion of approximately $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets. According to Gharibabadi, the funds will be used to purchase essential goods needed by the Iranian population.

The Iranian delegation—which included officials from the foreign ministry, agriculture sector, central bank, and economic diplomacy bodies—concluded its visit with a trilateral meeting involving Qatari and Pakistani negotiators. The participants pledged to continue working through implementation challenges as efforts move forward toward what they hope will become a final and binding agreement. (ILKHA)