Investigations into NSW Liberals, Victorian CFMEU, Canberra celebrates Midwinter Ball, US-Iran talks to conclude

Doha: Iran and the United States have completed a series of indirect talks with no sign that they are making progress toward a lasting peace, focusing instead on issues they supposedly resolved two weeks ago.
Sources said negotiators from the two countries spent two days in Doha discussing maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz and financial incentives for Iran, two pillars of the initial agreement they signed in June, rather than more difficult issues for which the framework needs to be prepared.

In Washington, US President Donald Trump said the two sides were making progress on possible limits on Iran’s nuclear program; this was the main reason he started the war in February. “The process of denuclearizing Iran is progressing well,” he told reporters. “They had very good meetings and we will see.”

However, sources said that the nuclear program was not on the agenda during the technical talks. US Vice President JD Vance said that this issue would be discussed later.
The two sides did not meet face to face, but instead contacted mediators from Qatar and Pakistan separately.

According to a source who spoke on condition of anonymity, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and senior US envoy Steve Witkoff, who were sent to the region for what the White House described as “high-level” meetings, did not attend the sessions. The leader of the Iranian delegation, Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Garibabadi, said that the talks were completed. Neither side said they had managed to resolve their differences.