US and Iranian officials will hold indirect lower-level technical talks with mediators on Wednesday on a deal aimed at permanently ending the Middle East war, a diplomat with knowledge of the talks told AFP.
"US and Iranian officials are to hold indirect technical talks on Wednesday in Doha with Qatari and Pakistani mediators on the memorandum of understanding and building on the progress made at the Lake Lucerne Summit," the diplomat said.
US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff would not be taking part in the technical talks, the diplomat added, after they met with Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on Tuesday.
Issues on the table
A key issue in the US-Iran accord that needs to be ironed out is Iran's chokehold on the strategic Strait of Hormuz, with the agreement providing for its reopening.
Traffic in the strait dropped over the weekend after a vessel was struck while transiting on Saturday.
A US official said talks were "slated to continue on all areas of the MoU", referring to the memorandum of understanding.
Iran has also recently held talks with Oman on what it called the "future management" of vessels passing through the strait.
Another key issue for Iran is its funds frozen by crippling US sanctions.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Monday that the necessary steps to unfreeze these funds were "underway", saying $6 billion was to be released back to the country, out of $12 billion.
Baqaei said Tuesday that talks would be held with the Qatari side on the "provision concerning the release of Iran's restricted assets".
Fighting calms
Since the signing of the US-Iran deal, both sides have traded sporadic fire in the Gulf.
Tehran's enforcement of its claim to the Strait of Hormuz has sparked repeated flare-ups.
The latest came when US Central Command said over the weekend that it had attacked 10 Iranian military targets over "continued Iranian aggression against commercial shipping".
Iran said it retaliated with strikes against US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain, which both condemned Tehran.
Chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Tuesday in a televised interview that "when a war of this magnitude comes to an end... it is inevitable that there will be implementation challenges, incidents, and differences of opinion, especially where parties such as the Israeli regime are concerned".
He said the Iranian delegation would be focused on the implementation of clauses related to fighting in Lebanon and the Strait of Hormuz.
"Naturally, the Islamic Republic is committed to ensuring that the agreement is implemented, and the enemy, the United States and its ally -- must also fulfil their commitments," he said.
However, the exchanges of fire appear to have calmed in the days leading up to the talks in Qatar.
On the Lebanon front, fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has been relatively quiet.
Tehran has insisted any deal should include an end to the parallel conflict and a withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon, part of which they have occupied.
