Qatar says progress made toward US-Iran talks on ending war

Qatar said that the mediators had made progress in the efforts to bring the end of the US-Iran war on Tuesday, leading to the decrease in oil prices, even though Tehran had denied President Donald Trump’s claims that negotiations had already begun.

The benchmark Brent crude price fell by over four per cent following statements from Qatar after Monday’s fall on expectations of reaching an agreement soon in order to allow the resumption of the passage through the blocked Strait of Hormuz. However, at the moment, the strait was almost completely closed, and there was another report about the attack on a ship sailing through it.

President Trump claimed on Monday that talks with the Iranians had already started and that Iran had a “last chance” to come up with a deal. Iranian representatives stated that no talks with America were going on. According to the country, its only conversations were held with Oman regarding the strait, and nothing significant was scheduled to take place during the week.

However, the American officials showed optimism on Tuesday. The Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent and the Secretary of State Marco Rubio mentioned the progress in the negotiations about the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, which was supposed to carry about one-fifth of all oil and liquefied natural gas trade.

“There has been progress made in those talks, but not finality yet. We are hoping that this will happen very shortly”, said Rubio addressing the journalists at the State Department.

Secretary of Treasury Bessent said that an agreement with Iran on the re-opening of Hormuz would probably be reached either on Tuesday or on Wednesday. The foreign ministry spokesperson of Qatar Majed al-Ansari said that the diplomatic contacts have reached “very progressive stages”.

He added that the mediators, including Qatar, Pakistan, and Oman, were coordinating their efforts actively and exchanging draft proposals of Washington and Tehran.

Trump’s statements followed his decision to cancel “massive attacks” on Iran last weekend, as part of a pattern when he was threatening military strikes before cancelling them later and claiming that negotiations are ongoing.