WASHINGTON, Jun 29: The United States and Iran have agreed to stop attacking each other and plan to meet and resume talks aimed at ending the Middle East war, a US official said late Sunday.
US and Iranian forces traded strikes in recent days despite a fragile June 17 memorandum of understanding (MOU) that seeks a comprehensive end of the conflict that began in late February and disrupted shipping through the vital Strait of Hormuz.
Under that agreement, Tehran committed to allow safe passage of commercial vessels through the strait while Washington agreed to lift its blockade of Iranian ports.
"Technical talks are slated to continue on all areas of the MOU," a US official told AFP in an email. "Both sides will stand down for now and vessels can move freely."
US President Donald Trump said that Iran has requested a meeting that will be held in the Gulf state of Qatar on Tuesday, despite an earlier denial from Tehran that talks were planned.
"Iran has requested a meeting. It will take place tomorrow in doha!" Trump posted on his Truth Social platform on Monday.
Shortly afterwards, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said US negotiators Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff would be "flying to Doha for high level meetings this week".
Iran's foreign ministry earlier on Monday denied reports that Iranian and American technical teams will meet this week to discuss the implementation of the deal to end the Middle East war.
Uncertainty over the talks followed renewed tit-for-tat attacks between the United States and Iran in recent days despite an April ceasefire and a memorandum of understanding, brokered by Pakistan and Qatar, aimed at permanently ending the war.
A diplomat with knowledge of the talks confirmed to AFP on Monday that officials from the US and Iran are to meet in Doha to discuss the accord.
"Technical teams working on the implementation of the MoU are scheduled to meet in Doha in the coming days," the diplomat said on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks.
The diplomat added "communications channels created to de-escalate any incidents are in place," following strikes between the US and Iran.
Iran's foreign ministry on Monday denied reports that Iranian and American technical teams will meet in the coming days to discuss the implementation of the deal to end the Middle East war.
Both sides have traded fire in the Gulf in recent days, testing their fragile ceasefire.
"No technical meetings of the working groups are planned for this week," Deputy Foreign Minister KazemGharibabadi said, quoted by state TV, referring to the Iranian week ending on Friday.
Citing US officials, American news site Axios reported on Sunday that Tehran and Washington would hold a meeting in Qatar on Tuesday to resolve their dispute over the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
CNN reported similar comments from a Trump administration official, though the White House has not issued an official statement.
Qatar, alongside Pakistan, has acted as a mediator in talks between Iran and the United States aimed at ending the war in the Middle East.
The most recent discussions between Tehran and Washington took place in Switzerland on June 21 with the attendance of delegations from all four countries.
Qatar -- located across the Gulf from Iran -- is playing a key role in the financial aspects of the negotiations.
Iran holds assets there that have been frozen due to US sanctions.
Iranian President MasoudPezeshkian stated on Monday that the necessary steps to unfreeze these funds were "underway".
"In accordance with established plans, $6 billion out of the total $12 billion held in Qatar will be released and returned to the country," he said, quoted by the presidency.�"AFP
