Trump says Iran, US meeting set to take place in Doha

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Monday that Iran had requested a meeting, which would take place in Doha on Tuesday (tomorrow), without providing further details.

"Iran has requested a meeting. It will take place tomorrow in Doha," Trump wrote in all capital letters in a Truth Social post.

His statement came after Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi stated that technical working group meetings under the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding were not scheduled for this week.

Iran says $6b of its funds in Qatar ‘should be released’ under US deal

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Monday that $6 billion of Iran’s funds held in Qatar “should be released” and returned to the country under the agreement with the US, according to Iranian media.

“Based on the plans made, $6 billion out of a total of $12 billion of Iran’s funds in Qatar should be released and returned to the country,” Pezeshkian said during a meeting with Grand Ayatollah Shobeiri Zanjani, according to ISNA news agency.

He added that “necessary follow-ups are underway” for the return of the remaining funds.

Iran says technical working group meetings under the memorandum with US not scheduled this week

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said on Monday that technical working group meetings under the Iran-U.S. memorandum of understanding were not scheduled for this week, Iran's Tasnim news agency reported.

Earlier, a source with knowledge of the talks told Reuters that Iranian and US technical teams working on implementing the MoU would be meeting in the coming days.

Gharibabadi also said consultations between Iran and Qatar regarding the US commitments were continuing as planned but that technical working group talks in Doha had not been confirmed.

“Although consultations with Qatar – including on following up on the implementation of the other party’s commitments – are ongoing as usual the news from some media outlets that technical talks by the working groups will be held in Doha cannot be confirmed,” Gharibabadi said in a statement on Telegram, according to Al Jazeera.

“The first round of technical talks within the framework of the designated working groups will be held when conditions are met, and after an agreement is reached on the date and location. Consultations in this regard are continuing through intermediary countries,” he added.

Iran, Oman hold first meeting of joint committee of Strait of Hormuz, Gharibabadi says

Iran and Oman have conducted the first meeting of a joint committee on the Strait of Hormuz in Muscat, the Iranian deputy foreign minister said on his X account on Monday.

Kazem Gharibabadi said him and Oman's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Abdulaziz Al-Hinai had exchanged views on Gulf coastal states' sovereign rights as well as on the strait's future management based on the interim deal signed this month by Tehran and Washington.

"We exchanged views on the future management of the Strait within the framework of...the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding," he wrote.

Hormuz traffic drops after fresh vessel attacks fuel security concerns

Commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz continued at a reduced pace over the weekend after attacks on two vessels renewed concerns over the safety of one of the world’s most important energy chokepoints.

Tracking data showed that some open transits were still taking place after a Singapore-registered container ship, Ever Lovely, was damaged on June 25 and the Panama-flagged tanker M/T Kiku was hit on June 27.

The continued crossings suggest some operators are still prepared to use the waterway, but the slowdown points to uneven confidence among shipowners, insurers and charterers after the latest escalation.

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore said Ever Lovely sustained minor damage to its bridge area from an unknown projectile while leaving the strait, adding that the vessel later completed its transit and that all 21 crew members were safe.

The US Central Command said Iranian forces struck M/T Kiku with a one-way attack drone while the tanker was sailing near the Strait of Hormuz with more than 2 million barrels of crude oil. CENTCOM said it carried out additional strikes against Iranian targets in response.

Despite the attacks, several vessels still moved through the waterway over the weekend, including empty very large crude carriers entering the Persian Gulf and loaded tankers leaving it.

A French-registered container ship, CMA CGM Galapagos, also exited the strait and later anchored off Muscat, Oman, according to maritime sources. The vessel had been among ships trapped in the Persian Gulf since the conflict began in late February.

Meanwhile, tracking platform Windward data showed that on 27 June, 24 vessels transited inbound and 16 outbound through the Strait of Hormuz – 40 in total.

Inbound traffic was tanker-heavy (13 of 24) with strong Iranian-flag representation: Touskla, Dan, Hawk and Jairan. Outbound flow was northern-corridor dominant, with roughly 4.1M barrels of crude moving out aboard three laden tankers.

The movement of empty tankers into the Gulf remains important for regional energy producers seeking to restart exports after months of disruption. VLCCs are needed to load crude at Gulf terminals, and any hesitation among shipowners could slow the recovery of oil flows even if diplomatic talks continue.

The Joint Maritime Information Center raised the maritime security threat level in the Strait of Hormuz to “substantial” after the latest attacks, warning vessels about mines and naval activity linked to mine-clearing operations.

Shipowner sentiment remains mixed. Some vessels that had recently abandoned or delayed crossings have not made new attempts, while others have used either the Iranian-designated northern route or the southern lane close to Oman.

US envoy to UN says Iran’s leverage over Hormuz ‘diminishing day by day’

Mike Waltz says Iran stands “completely isolated” over its push to charge fees in the Strait of Hormuz and its leverage over the waterway is “diminishing by the day”.

Speaking after the US and Iran traded strikes following attacks on two ships in the strait, Waltz told Fox News that Gulf Arab states were already building alternatives with the UAE and Saudi Arabia both expanding oil pipelines that bypass the waterway.

He added that the US will “create alternatives to our [military] basing posture” in the Middle East by “hardening some” and possibly moving others underground. “So this leverage that Iran thinks it has now is diminishing faster and faster, literally every week as we speak,” he said.

Waltz said even China had opposed fees or tolls in the strait and claimed that Oman had rejected Iran’s proposal to help set up the necessary infrastructure. “So they’re completely isolated here,” he said.

The diplomat warned Iran that it risks a “path to absolute ruin” and said Trump’s patience “isn’t going to last forever”.