Indirect talks in Doha inch fragile US-Iran truce forward

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, who led Tehran's delegation, confirmed the establishment of the hotline, while US President Donald Trump claimed the talks were making progress, especially on the challenging issue of Iran's nuclear programme. "As far as things are going, the denuclearisation of Iran is moving along well," Trump told reporters in Washington.

The memorandum of understanding, mediated by Qatar and Pakistan and sealed at a summit last month in Lucerne, Switzerland, includes a 60-day ceasefire, the reopening of the blockaded Strait of Hormuz and a timetable for a final deal on the war and Iran's nuclear programme. The need for improved communications between the two sides was clearly evident following the latest clashes. 

Internal tensions

Meanwhile, both the US and Iran are contending with tensions within their own negotiating teams over the type of deal they are prepared to accept. In Washington, there are different approaches from Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio as they seek to shore up their credentials as potential contenders to replace Trump in the White House at the end of his second term.

Vance is considered the official in Trump's administration most opposed to war and has been at the forefront of US diplomatic efforts to end the conflict—an unusual role for an American vice president to play in a process usually led by the Secretary of State. Meanwhile, Rubio has positioned himself as someone less enthusiastic about the deal to end the war, especially on terms widely seen as favourable to Iran. The divergence in approaches is also reflected in the two men's positions on Israel, with Vance willing to publicly criticise Tel Aviv's actions, while  Rubio is less so.

Meanwhile, in Iran, there are also signs of tensions over the conduct of the negotiations, with hardliners accused of abruptly cutting off a television interview with the country's chief peace negotiator as he was defending the latest deal reached with the US. The pre-recorded interview with Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf stopped midway through its broadcast on the IRINN state TV channel on Tuesday night, prompting a rare public protest from parliament.

Ghalibaf was in the middle of explaining a key part of the negotiations when the screen went black and then switched to an old speech by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the former supreme leader. The broadcast interruption was blamed on hardline elements within the Revolutionary Guard who are opposed to making too many concessions to the US, especially with regard to the country's nuclear programme, and the incident is being interpreted as further evidence of a widening split within the Islamic Republic's leadership.

While the fact that negotiations are still taking place lends encouragement that the long-running crisis in the Gulf can still be resolved, emerging divisions among negotiators on both sides of the conflict suggest many challenges still lie ahead in efforts to bring lasting peace to the region.