An official familiar with the talks said that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi met with Qatari mediators in Doha on Tuesday evening and received the United States' response to a proposed seven-day confidence-building plan, which he will discuss in Tehran on Wednesday.
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The official added that the main disagreement concerns the sequence of steps in the plan, which aims to build trust and return to an enhanced version of the memorandum of understanding signed by the United States and Iran in June.
For its part, the Iranian authorities announced on Wednesday that they had received the American response.
Government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani told the official news agency IRNA that “Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi presented the American proposal to President Masoud Pezeshkian during today’s cabinet meeting.”
After more than seven months of war and diplomatic stalemate, indirect talks between the United States and Iran resumed last week on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
Iran says it has put forward seven conditions for ending hostilities and reopening the strategic Strait of Hormuz, which is the main point of contention in the war.
The Strait of Hormuz lies at the heart of the war that began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran in late February.
Qatar said on Tuesday that it hoped diplomatic mediation efforts between Iran and the United States would lead to tangible progress, despite US President Donald Trump's denial of media reports that he was prepared to ease sanctions on Tehran and release its frozen funds in exchange for concessions on its nuclear program.
Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majid Al-Ansari told reporters, “Work is still underway to hold meetings and deliver messages between the parties, and we are working to find common ground between the parties in order to reach an agreement that will save us all from the repercussions of the conflict.”
The United States and Iran have been unable to find a way out of their war, which has now entered its eighth month. Negotiations appeared to have intensified during the UN General Assembly meetings last week in New York, but have yet to produce an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
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