Fresh diplomatic activity between Washington and Tehran gathered momentum on Monday after reports that US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff was travelling to Doha, even as Iran maintained that no formal negotiations with the United States had been scheduled.
The latest developments come a day after US President Donald Trump announced that talks involving the two countries would take place in Qatar on Tuesday. While Washington has projected the meeting as an important diplomatic opportunity, Iranian officials continue to dispute that any formal engagement with American representatives is planned.
According to CNN, citing two US officials, Witkoff is en route to the Qatari capital. The report said it remained unclear whether Senior Adviser Jared Kushner was travelling alongside him.
Iran says commitments depend on US reciprocity
Amid the diplomatic activity, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran remained willing to honour its commitments if the United States did the same.
In a post on X, Pezeshkian wrote, “Mutual understanding is a two-way street. If the American party adheres to the agreement, we will also fulfil our commitments.”
Without referring to Trump by name, the Iranian President also warned against threats.
“Our approach towards unreasonable grumbles and baseless threats relies on rationality and human dignity in decision-making, and decisive and unhesitant defence when it comes to action,” he said.
Trump pushes Doha meeting
Speaking at the White House during the signing of an executive order, Trump said the Doha meeting could prove significant and reiterated that preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon remained Washington’s primary objective.
“There’ll be a meeting on that tomorrow in Doha… we’ll see how that goes. But we’re doing very well on that front. The meeting in Doha is going to be perhaps important, perhaps not; we’re going to find out,” Trump said.
He added, “It’s really very simple, it’s the denuclearisation of Iran. We don’t want them to have a nuclear weapon, and they’re not going to have a nuclear weapon, and they’ve agreed to that, in all fairness.”
Earlier, Trump had claimed on Truth Social that Iran had requested the meeting. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later said the talks had been arranged at Tehran’s request.
Tehran rejects claims of scheduled negotiations
Iran, however, has continued to reject Washington’s version of events.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said an Iranian delegation would travel to Qatar, but insisted its visit was unrelated to the arrival of American officials.
“The fact that US representatives are travelling to Qatar has no connection with the trip of the Iranian delegation,” Baghaei said.
He added that the visit was intended to implement provisions under Article 11 of an existing Memorandum of Understanding.
Baghaei also said negotiations on a final agreement had not yet begun.
“We have not yet entered the negotiation phase for the final agreement. According to Article 13 of the MoU, the start of negotiations for the final agreement is contingent upon the initiation of the implementation of Articles 1, 4, 5, 10, and 11, and the continuation of their implementation,” he said.
Qatar remains key intermediary
The diplomatic activity follows recent military tensions between the United States and Iran linked to incidents in the Strait of Hormuz.
While Washington has projected the Doha engagement as part of efforts to resolve concerns over Iran’s nuclear programme, Tehran has publicly distanced itself from claims of direct negotiations.
Despite the conflicting public statements, communication channels remain active, with Qatar continuing to facilitate contacts between the two sides.