High-level Iranian diplomats, including the foreign minister and chief negotiator, arrived in Doha on Monday for discussions with Qatar’s prime minister aimed at ending the three-month-old conflict with the United States. The diplomatic push comes just after Washington and Tehran cooled expectations for an immediate breakthrough. Speaking from New Delhi, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio affirmed that Washington intends to exhaust all diplomatic avenues before considering alternative measures, noting that a substantive framework is currently on the table to reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz and initiate a time-limited negotiation regarding Iran’s nuclear program.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that discussions were progressing well, while simultaneously urging Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and other Muslim-majority nations to immediately join the Abraham Accords to normalize ties with Israel. Trump previously noted that any final arrangement with Tehran would either be momentous or non-existent. Offering a more tempered view from Tehran, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei clarified during a weekly press briefing that while consensus has been reached on numerous agenda points, a final signature is not yet imminent.
According to sources familiar with the Doha meetings, the negotiations are primarily centered on the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile. The Iranian delegation also features the country’s central bank governor, who is managing talks around the unfreezing of billions of dollars in overseas Iranian oil revenues. Baghaei revealed that the proposed memorandum of understanding consists of 14 points, primarily focusing on ending the military conflict and lifting the U.S. naval blockade on the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for Iranian commitments to guarantee secure maritime transit. Nuclear matters are reportedly excluded from this immediate framework, with plans to relegate those discussions to a subsequent 60-day negotiation window if the preliminary accord is finalized.
Preventing Tehran from securing a nuclear weapon remains a primary war objective for President Trump, though Iran continues to maintain its nuclear ambitions are peaceful. Trump reiterated that the maritime blockade on Iranian shipping would stay fully enforced until an agreement is officially signed and certified. Baghaei stated that the draft accord lacks specific administrative protocols for the Strait of Hormuz—a bottleneck responsible for a fifth of global oil and liquefied gas transit—but noted that while Iran will not levy direct tolls, it plans to charge for navigation and environmental services under a future protocol coordinated with Oman.
The critical waterway has been virtually gridlocked since U.S. and Israeli forces launched initial airstrikes against Iran on February 28, reducing daily vessel traffic from roughly 130 ships down to a mere handful. On Monday, Iranian state television reported that 32 vessels and five oil tankers successfully navigated the strait within a 24-hour window, emphasizing that all transits required authorization from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) naval forces. The ongoing maritime standoff has triggered a severe global energy crisis, inflating the costs of fuel, food, and fertilizer. However, optimism surrounding the diplomatic talks in Doha caused global oil prices to slide over 4% to two-week lows on Monday.
Despite the diplomatic momentum, deep divisions remain. Key sticking points include Iran’s nuclear stockpile, the ongoing Israeli military campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Tehran’s demands for total sanctions relief alongside the return of frozen assets. Insiders suggest that future negotiations might explore “feasible formulas” regarding Iran’s highly enriched uranium, such as diluting the material under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) oversight. Back in Washington, the domestic economic toll of high energy prices and congressional attempts to restrict his war powers have driven President Trump to aggressively promote the prospect of a diplomatic resolution. In tandem, sources close to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicate that Tel Aviv currently holds minimal leverage over Trump’s shifting strategy toward the conflict. The geopolitical push follows a devastating opening phase of the war, where U.S.-Israeli bombardment killed thousands in Iran prior to a fragile April ceasefire, alongside severe casualties and displacement stemming from Israel’s parallel ground offensive in Lebanon.
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