Iran-US war latest: Qatar says Trump envoys won’t meet Tehran for talks in another setback for peace process

A foreign ministry spokesperson for Qatar has confirmed that US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will be in Qatar to meet mediators to discuss negotiations.

“There is ho high level meeting between the US and Iran planned,” they said on Tuesday, appearing to confirm reports by Iran.

It follows confusion after it was reported that US envoys are flying into Doha for high-level peace talks amid a renewed spate of strikes, despite claims from Tehran that no such talks have been arranged.

Secretary of state Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to represent the US, a White House official said.

“IRAN HAS REQUESTED A MEETING. IT WILL TAKE PLACE TOMORROW IN DOHA,” Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social.

However, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, said no talks between Iran and the US were scheduled in the coming days. He said that an ​Iranian ⁠technical delegation ‌will visit Qatar this week, but it has ‌no relation to ‌US officials visiting the country.

Iran and the US had traded attacks in the Gulf in recent days as each accused the other of violating an interim deal signed less than two weeks ago to end their four-month war.

Iran's foreign ministry said a delegation will be in Doha over the next two days, but the team will not meet with US officials.

Instead, the group will pursue, through the Qatari mediator, the implementation of US commitments under the memorandum of understanding, according to deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi.

President Donald Trump had said that Iran-US talks would be held in Doha today. However, Iran dismissed the statement, saying no talks have been ⁠scheduled for the coming days.

Egypt’s foreign ministry condemned Israeli attacks on Syria on Monday.

It affirmed its “complete rejection of any violations affecting the sovereignty of Arab states or their territorial integrity, renewing its full solidarity with Syria and support for all efforts to preserve its unity and sovereignty.”

As Israeli troops and vehicles entered the town of Abdin in southern Syria, residents blocked the roads with rocks, and some young men and boys threw stones to push back the military patrol.

Tensions in this part of the country created by a buffer zone occupied by Israeli forces have flared into violence in recent days, leaving residents anxious that more escalation is coming. Residents of Abdin, located near a U.N.-patrolled buffer zone now controlled by Israeli troops, tried to resist against a military incursion Sunday.

A foreign ministry spokesperson for Qatar has confirmed that US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will be in Qatar to meet mediators to discuss negotiations.

“There is ho high level meeting between the US and Iran planned,” they said on Tuesday, appearing to confirm reports by Iran.

Iran's president said Monday that $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets would be released by Qatar as negotiations with the United States were challenged by attacks across the Persian Gulf this weekend.

Masoud Pezeshkian 's mention of the funds appear aimed at selling the Iranian public on the interim deal, particularly as its grip on the Strait of Hormuz has been challenged by efforts to open Oman's territorial waters to both inbound and outbound traffic from the Persian Gulf. Iran's attacks and threats stopped cargo ships and tankers from moving though the strait, in which about a fifth of all traded oil and natural gas passed in peacetime, creating a global energy crisis.

Syria has condemned Israeli incursions and shelling in the south of the country, a day after an escalation in the village in Daraa province forced its residents to temporarily flee, according to local officials. Israel has said it is defeating terrorists in the region.

“Syria is not a testing ground for foreign conspiracies, nor a place for carrying out the ambitions of others at the expense of the blood of our children and women,” said Syrian president Ahmad al-Sharaa.

Iranian deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi has warned France, Oman and the United States against conducting mine-clearing operations in the Strait of Hormuz.

He said that the clearances are “carried out solely by Iran” and that Tehran will not allow other countries to do it.

The head of the European Central Bank defended its June 11 rate increase as justified to ward off real inflationary pressures and said it wasn’t just a mere “insurance hike.”

ECB head Christine Lagarde said Monday that without the quarter percentage-point increase, inflation could have lingered above the bank’s 2 per cent target into 2028.

“Some have characterised our rate increase earlier this month as an ‘insurance hike,’” Lagarde said. “I'm sorry to disappoint them. That is not an accurate description. We faced an outlook of rising headline and core inflation.”