US envoys in Doha to meet mediators but not Iranians, Qatar says

They also said a "communication line" had been formed to enable the safe passage of commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz.But that failed to prevent the recent exchanges of strikes, which began when Iran attacked a cargo ship on Thursday following efforts to open Oman's territorial waters to both inbound and outbound traffic on the southern side of the strait. Iran had warned vessels that the only route was through its own waters on the northern side.On Sunday night, a US official said both sides would "stand down for now", and that vessels could "move freely" in and around the strait. Technical talks would also "continue on all areas of the MoU", the official added.The next day, Iran's deputy foreign minister and lead technical negotiator, Kazem Gharibabadi, denied that there were plans for technical talks this week.US President Donald Trump responded by saying that Iran had requested a meeting in Qatar's capital on Tuesday, and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that Witkoff and Kushner would fly to Doha for "high-level meetings".On Tuesday, Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman told a news conference that the two US envoys had arrived in Doha for talks with mediators but not Iranian officials."The talks will be around all regional issues which are of concern, including, of course, the Iran" class="entity-link entity-topic" data-entity-id="155571" data-entity-type="topic">negotiations with Iran, but also including Lebanon and other files in the region," he said.