Iran rejects Doha talks reports, says mission is about frozen assets and oil waivers

Doha: Iran has dismissed reports that it plans to hold talks with American officials in Qatar, directly contradicting statements from US President Donald Trump and the White House that suggested a meeting between the two sides was imminent.

The denial comes after Trump announced that Iran had sought a meeting and that discussions would take place in Doha. The White House later reinforced the claim, saying a US delegation had been dispatched to Qatar for talks requested by Tehran.

However, Iran's Foreign Ministry said no negotiations with American representatives are scheduled and stressed that an Iranian delegation travelling to Doha has a completely different mission.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran's immediate focus is not fresh negotiations but ensuring the implementation of commitments contained in an existing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two countries.

"We will not have any negotiation meetings at any level with the American side in the coming days," Baghaei said. "The fact that US representatives are travelling to Qatar has no connection with the trip of the Iranian delegation."

Why is Iran sending a delegation to Qatar?

According to Tehran, the delegation's visit is aimed at monitoring the implementation of agreed measures under the MoU, particularly provisions linked to Iranian oil exports and the release of frozen assets.

Baghaei said Iran is closely following the execution of Article 10 of the agreement, which relates to US waivers affecting Iranian oil exports. He added that officials are also working to secure access to Iranian funds frozen abroad under Article 11.

Iranian authorities have previously stated that Washington agreed to release around $12 billion in frozen Iranian assets in two separate tranches. Earlier on Monday, Iran's president indicated that one of those tranches, reportedly held in Qatar, is expected to be transferred back to Tehran.

Reports from Washington indicated that US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Senior Adviser Jared Kushner were expected to travel to Qatar as part of the American delegation.