Sawt Falasteen - Trump sees progress as US, Iran hold Qatar talks

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, who led Tehran's delegation, later said the talks had concluded and that the sides had agreed to establish a communication channel by Thursday to report and record violations of their initial memorandum of understanding.

Iran had insisted there would be no direct negotiations in Doha on the deal, which aims to end the war that began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February.

"As far as things are going, the denuclearization of Iran is moving along well," Trump told reporters before boarding Air Force One.

"We hit them very hard... but we're getting along very well."

The memorandum of understanding, mediated by Qatar and Pakistan and sealed at a summit last month in Lucerne, Switzerland, includes a 60-day ceasefire, the reopening of the blockaded Strait of Hormuz and a timetable for a final deal on the war and Iran's nuclear programme.

- Lines of contact -

The Qatar discussions, held at a lower level and focused on implementing the memorandum, were meant to "build on the progress made at the Lake Lucerne Summit," a diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Tehran denied Trump's earlier claim that the talks would be direct, with foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei saying Iran had "no plans for negotiations with the American side at any level over the coming days."

Gharibabadi said the discussions also covered frozen Iranian assets, whose release Tehran has demanded as part of any settlement.

He said officials reviewed the use of part of an initial $6 billion and agreed that goods needed by Iran would be purchased and made available.

US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff were not taking part in the technical talks, the diplomat said, after meeting Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on Tuesday.

Qatar's foreign ministry said the three discussed the US-Iran negotiations and developments in Lebanon.

On Wednesday, the office of Qatar's emir said Kushner and Witkoff had also met ruler Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

Anna Jacobs, a non-resident fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute, said it was "very early in the negotiation process and battles are being fought privately and publicly."

"The overall positive message is that they are continuing to engage after the clashes last week," she told AFP.

- Ceasefire strains -

Since the US-Iran deal was signed last month, the sides have exchanged fire in the Gulf, underscoring the difficulty of turning the initial truce into a lasting settlement.

Tehran targeted a commercial ship it said had strayed from its approved route through the Strait of Hormuz, and US Central Command responded by saying it had struck 10 Iranian military targets.

Iran then hit US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain, drawing condemnation from both Gulf states.

Iran's chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Tuesday that "when a war of this magnitude comes to an end... it is inevitable that there will be implementation challenges, incidents and differences of opinion, especially where parties such as the Israeli regime are concerned."

He said Iran's delegation in Doha would focus on implementing clauses related to Hormuz and the fighting in Lebanon.

The exchanges of fire appeared to have eased in the days before the Qatar talks, with oil prices falling as markets took encouragement from the continued US-Iran engagement.

On the Lebanon front, fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has also been relatively quiet.

Iran-backed Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the wider Middle East war in March with rocket fire at Israel, triggering Israeli airstrikes and a ground invasion.

Tehran has insisted any final deal should include an end to the Lebanon conflict and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the south, part of which they occupy.

A.Suleiman--SF-PST