Trump says Iran has requested a meeting as U.S. attempts to preserve interim deal
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — President Donald Trump said Monday on social media that Iran had requested a meeting with U.S. counterparts, though Iranian officials said no such meeting was scheduled.
The U.S. president has tried to preserve an increasingly fragile interim deal as hostilities have mounted in the Strait of Hormuz in recent days, which could cause oil prices to rise and undermine Trump’s claims to voters that inflation in America was easing.
Trump said the meeting with Iran would happen on Tuesday in Doha, Qatar.
Earlier on Monday, Iran’s president said that $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets would be released by Qatar, as negotiations with the United States were challenged by attacks across the Persian Gulf this weekend.
Masoud Pezeshkian’s mention of the funds appeared aimed at selling the Iranian public on the interim deal, particularly as its grip on the Strait of Hormuz has been tested by efforts to open Oman’s territorial waters to both inbound and outbound traffic from the Persian Gulf.
Iran’s attacks and threats stopped cargo ships and tankers from moving through the strait, in which about a fifth of all traded oil and natural gas passed in peacetime, creating a global energy crisis.
The strait has long been considered an international waterway despite its location in Iran and Oman’s territorial waters. In recent days, Iran has twice attacked vessels going through a route near the Omani side, drawing retaliatory American airstrikes and concerns that negotiations to reach a formal end to the war could be disrupted. Iran launched drone and missile attacks targeting Bahrain and Kuwait on Sunday.
Pezeshkian says $6 billion coming to Iran
Pezeshkian offered praise for the interim deal in comments published Monday by the state-run IRNA news agency, calling it “a great victory for the Iranian people.”
