US and Iran send delegations to Doha amid fragile ceasefire

U.S. and Iranian officials are in Doha this week for separate diplomatic engagements aimed at stabilizing a fragile ceasefire after recent military clashes, though no direct high-level talks are scheduled. The meetings follow an exchange of strikes over the weekend that threatened a U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding signed on June 17.

The renewed hostilities stemmed from a dispute over control of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global oil chokepoint. Last Thursday and Friday, the United States accused Iran of attacking commercial vessels in the strait. U.S. forces responded with strikes on Iranian military facilities on Saturday. Early Sunday, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched missile and drone attacks against U.S. military sites in Kuwait and Bahrain, damaging a residential building in Bahrain. Kuwait reported intercepting two missiles. No fatalities were reported from these strikes, and both sides agreed to a temporary pause in fighting later on Sunday.

The core disagreement centers on the interpretation of the memorandum, which established a 60-day ceasefire and framework for negotiations following a conflict that began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran...