Qatar sees 'progress' in US-Iran talks after White House meeting

Qatar said on Tuesday it had seen “progress” in talks between the US and Iran, stating that Doha as a key mediator was “working tirelessly to end the uncertainty over the crisis between Washington and Tehran”.

The assessment came a day after Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani met US President Donald Trump at the White House.

Al Hashmi said the White House meeting "was held in a positive atmosphere and was focused on making progress in the talks."

“We cannot say how close or how far away an agreement is,” Ibrahim bin Sultan Al Hashmi, director of the foreign ministry’s Media and Communication Department, told a weekly briefing in Doha.

"We see that mediatory efforts continue, and both sides are making positive statements about a diplomatic solution," he added.

He said Qatari officials had held talks in Tehran and consulted other governments in the region before Sheikh Mohammed travelled to Washington.

Trump said Gulf states, including Qatar and Saudi Arabia, had urged him to hold off on fresh strikes. He said he would do so for now but keep the US naval blockade in place.

Tehran has proposed resuming talks in as little as two days if Washington halts attacks, lifts its blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz and waives some sanctions. Negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme would come later.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei defended the proposal on Monday. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had dismissed some of Tehran’s conditions as “outrageous and ridiculous” the day before.

Al Hashmi said the continued Hormuz closure would hit the most vulnerable hardest, calling for the strait — a key route for Gulf oil and liquefied natural gas exports — to reopen to shipping as soon as possible.

Sheikh Mohammed joined ministers from Saudi Arabia, France, Britain, Germany and Italy in Paris on Tuesday to discuss the war on the sidelines of a G7 meeting.