Gulf attacks cast doubt on U.S.-Iran technical talks
Washington says talks remain on track, while Tehran says no meeting is set until conditions are right after strikes near the Strait of Hormuz.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
3 min read
New attacks around the Gulf have put planned U.S.-Iran technical talks in doubt, even as Washington says work on an interim deal is still expected to continue. The uncertainty matters because the talks were meant to advance a preliminary understanding aimed at reducing conflict around the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global shipping.
NPR reported that Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters during a Gulf tour last week that U.S. and Iranian officials were expected to meet Monday or Tuesday, likely in Switzerland. Those plans were thrown off after Iran struck a cargo ship Thursday near Oman, just outside the Strait of Hormuz, according to NPR.
The U.S. responded with attacks, and Iran later fired at U.S. military and naval bases in Kuwait and Bahrain, NPR reported. Rubio had visited both Gulf Arab countries days earlier as part of an effort to reassure regional partners about U.S. security commitments and discuss the interim U.S.-Iran arrangement.
Washington and Tehran give different signals
A senior White House official, who NPR said was not authorized to speak publicly, said Sunday that no talks had been canceled. The official said technical discussions on carrying out the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding remained expected in the coming days.
Iranian media quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi on Monday as saying consultations with Qatar, a mediator in the process, were continuing. He said technical talks with the United States had not yet been scheduled for this week and would happen only when conditions were met, according to NPR.
The White House official also told NPR that communication channels set up after talks in Switzerland were operating. Pakistan and Qatar said after those earlier talks that the United States and Iran had agreed to create a line of communication to prevent incidents in the Strait of Hormuz, according to NPR.
Ceasefire faces new pressure
U.S. Central Command said it hit Iranian missile and drone sites near the Strait of Hormuz on Friday and Saturday. CENTCOM said those strikes followed Iranian attacks on two cargo ships, including one carrying more than 2 million barrels of crude oil.
Iran said it launched missiles at U.S. forces in Bahrain and Kuwait in response, NPR reported. Both governments accused the other of breaching the ceasefire.
President Donald Trump warned Iran on Sunday in a social media post, saying the United States could reach a point where it would be “forced to militarily complete the job” it had started. He wrote that if that happened, “the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist.”
Shipping route remains contested
The latest attacks also disrupted U.N.-backed work to evacuate thousands of seafarers through a route near Oman, NPR reported. The evacuation effort followed months of war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, which NPR said was not part of the operation to clear the Oman route, warned Thursday that vessels failing to coordinate with its naval forces would be treated as violators.
Gharibabadi said Monday that he had visited Oman to discuss future management of the Strait of Hormuz, according to NPR. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi said during a visit to Iraq a day earlier that commercial shipping through the strait was supposed to return to prewar levels within 30 days of the preliminary U.S.-Iran agreement.
Aragchi also said the waterway was under Iran’s sole management and that Iran was responsible for removing what he called obstacles in the strait, NPR reported. It was not clear whether he was referring to mines that the United States says Iran placed in the waterway during the war.
This story draws on original reporting from NPR.