The U.S. and ‌Iran held technical talks in Doha on Wednesday (July 1, 2026) as they seek to agree ​on the flow of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and secure ⁠a lasting ceasefire, a source with direct knowledge of the talks and an Iranian official said.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and envoy Steve Witkoff met the Prime Minister of Qatar — a mediator in the talks ‌alongside Pakistan — to lay the groundwork for the negotiations, but would not be attending the discussions themselves, the source with direct knowledge of the talks said.

The talks are ‌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, whilst setting up 60 days of negotiations for a permanent peace deal.

However, the U.S. and Iran have sparred publicly over the meaning of the interim pact, leading to tit-for-tat strikes over the past week. 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 if it has to do so by force, two senior Iranian sources said on Wednesday (July 1, 2026)

Traffic has partially resumed through the strait, which handled one-fifth of global oil and ‌liquefied natural gas trade before the war.

Focus on Hormuz, frozen assets

The talks in Doha ​are structured as sessions between chief negotiators and specialists, the source with knowledge of the talks said. They began on Tuesday night and were continuing ⁠on Wednesday (July 1, 2026), said the Iranian official.

Iran has stated publicly that its priorities include agreeing on management of the strait and the release of $6 billion in Iranian frozen assets, and the Iranian official said the ‌current round of discussions would focus on those two issues.

The stated priority of the U.S. is to ensure the free flow of traffic through the strait, the source with knowledge of the talks said. Iran’s state media said on Wednesday (July 1, 2026) a foreign container ship had run aground in the Strait of Hormuz after entering shallow waters outside the shipping route designated by Iranian authorities.

“Hormuz continues to reopen, but it’s patchy, unpredictable, and not fully transparent,” said Vandana Hari, founder of oil market ‌analysis provider Ms. Vanda Insights.

The war triggered Iranian attacks on Gulf states hosting U.S. military bases and killed thousands ​of people, mainly in Iran and Lebanon, as well as pushing up oil and fuel prices.

Oil prices edged higher on Wednesday, after falling in previous days when ⁠the Iranian and U.S. strikes and counter-strikes were halted.

The interim deal between the U.S. and Iran ⁠also provides for an end to the conflict between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon. The U.S. has backed a separate track of talks between Israel and Lebanon’s ‌government, which produced a framework security deal that Hezbollah has dismissed and analysts warn could entrench a stalemate in Lebanon.

There had been intensive diplomatic activity on Lebanon between parties, including ​the U.S., up to Tuesday (June 30, 2026) evening, the source with knowledge of the talks said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he would be ready to join Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. counterpart Donald Trump at their summit in Hungary if he is invited.

Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin said they would meet in the Hungarian capital, possibly in a matter of weeks, as the U.S. leader continues to try to broker a peace deal to end the three-and-a-half-year war, triggered by Russia’s 2022 invasion.

“If I am invited to Budapest — if it is an invitation in a format where we meet as three or, as it’s called, shuttle diplomacy, President Trump meets with Putin and President Trump meets with me — then in one format or another, we will agree,” Mr. Zelenskyy told reporters in remarks released on Monday (October 20, 2025).

The Ukrainian president criticised the choice of Hungary, which has a terse relationship with Kyiv and is seen as the most Kremlin-sympathetic member of the European Union.

“I do not believe that a prime minister who blocks Ukraine everywhere can do anything positive for Ukrainians or even provide a balanced contribution,” Mr. Zelenskyy said, referring to Hungarian leader Viktor Orban.

Kyiv has said it is ready to join a three-way meeting between Zelenskyy, Putin and Trump in a number of neutral countries, including Turkey, Switzerland and the Vatican.

in 1994, Moscow signed a memorandum in Budapest aimed at ensuring security for Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan in exchange for them giving up numerous nuclear weapons left from the Soviet era.

“Another ‘Budapest’ scenario wouldn’t be positive either,” Mr. Zelenskyy said.

Mr. Trump has been aiming for a speedy end to the years-long conflict in Ukraine since he returned to White House earlier this year, pushing for a series of direct talks between Ukrainian and Russian officials and hosting Putin for a summit in Alaska — diplomatic efforts that have ultimately not lead to any breakthrough.

U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance said on Wednesday (August 21, 2025) that European countries will have to pay the “lion’s share” of costs for Ukraine’s security guarantees.

U.S. President Donald Trump wants to strike a peace deal to end Russia’s three and a half year-old war in Ukraine.

One of Ukraine’s priorities is security guarantees against Russian aggression. Mr. Trump has said he will not put U.S. troops on the ground there but could offer U.S. air support.

European countries have formed a “coalition of the willing” that would commit forces to guarantee Ukraine’s security.

With Mr. Trump testy about billions of dollars in U.S. military aid to Ukraine so far, the White House has said Washington will not continue “writing blank checks” to fund Kyiv’s defense.

Mr. Trump wants to shift more responsibility for the costs to European allies.

“I don’t think we should carry the burden here…. The president certainly expects Europe to play the leading role here,” Mr. Vance told Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” show.

“No matter what form this takes, the Europeans are going to have to take the lion’s share of the burden. It’s their continent, its their security, and the president has been very clear – they are going to have to step up here.”

Mr. Vance said Russia wants some Ukrainian territory, “most of which they have occupied but some of which they haven’t.”

Russia occupies around a fifth of Ukraine, and Trump has said “land-swapping” and changes to territory will be crucial for any settlement.

Ukraine opposes conceding any territory, a position President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said is enshrined in the country’s constitution. But Kyiv currently lacks the military capacity to retake all Russian-held areas and has limited diplomatic leverage to force a withdrawal in the short term.