US, Iran Hold Doha Talks on Hormuz, $6B Frozen Assets
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- U.S. and Iran held technical talks in Doha on July 1, 2026 based on a 14-point interim accord signed last month that was meant to halt the war that began with U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran in February and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, with 60 days allotted for a permanent peace deal.
- Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff met Qatar's Prime Minister — a mediator alongside Pakistan — to lay groundwork but will not attend the discussions themselves, with sessions structured between chief negotiators and specialists.
- Iran is determined to win international recognition of its control over the Strait and its ability to levy fees on ships entering or leaving the Gulf, even by force if necessary, two senior Iranian sources told Reuters.
- Iran's stated priorities are Strait management and release of $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets; the U.S. priority is ensuring free flow of traffic through the waterway, the source with direct knowledge said.
- Traffic has partially resumed through the Strait, which handled one-fifth of global oil and LNG trade before the war, though oil analyst Vandana Hari called the reopening "patchy, unpredictable, and not fully transparent."
- Iranian state media reported a foreign container ship ran aground in the Strait on July 1 after entering shallow waters outside the route designated by Iranian authorities.
- Oil prices edged higher on July 1 after falling in previous days when the tit-for-tat Iranian and U.S. strikes that erupted over the interim pact's interpretation were halted.
Why it matters: These technical sessions test whether the interim accord can hold after a week of tit-for-tat strikes that followed public disputes over its meaning, with the U.S. and Iran publicly committed to the same waterway but fundamentally divided over who governs it. Iran's insistence on recognized authority to charge shipping fees — even by force — means the $6 billion frozen-asset talks and Strait governance are being negotiated simultaneously within a 60-day window for a permanent deal.
