The parties agree to continue discussions in the coming period, with the next round of negotiations to be scheduled.
Pakistan and Qatar facilitated separate meetings between US and Iranian negotiators in Doha on Thursday, with both sides reporting positive progress on issues related to the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), according to an official statement.
A statement released by the Foreign Ministry on X said the Qatari and Pakistani mediators had separate engagements with the US and Iranian negotiating teams in the Qatari capital.
The statement said the discussions recorded “positive progress” on issues related to the Islamabad MoU, building on the agreements reached at the Lake Lucerne Summit.
He added that the parties agreed to continue discussions in the coming period, with the next round of talks to be scheduled as soon as possible after the funeral of the former Iranian supreme leader.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not disclose details of the issues discussed or elaborate on the contents of the Islamabad MoU. He also did not identify the members of the negotiating teams or specify a date for the next meeting.
The meetings come as US Vice President JD Vance said talks between the US and Iran were going well, as they held indirect technical talks in Qatar on the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, adding that Washington would not resume fighting unless necessary.
The talks are based on a 14-point interim agreement signed last month that aimed to end the war that began with U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran in February and reopen the strait, while establishing 60 days of negotiations for a permanent peace deal.
However, the United States and Iran have publicly clashed over the meaning of the interim deal, leading to military strikes over the past week and leaving little sign of progress on more complex issues, including Iran’s nuclear program.
Read: US-Iran talks end in Doha, focus on Strait of Hormuz
Vance said he could not guarantee that Washington would not resume combat operations before next month’s deadline, but that for now, President Donald Trump had asked officials to reach a deal.
“I can’t commit to anything, because obviously it depends on what the Iranians are going to do at the end of the day,” he told reporters during a visit to Virginia Beach, Virginia. “What I can commit to is that the president will not send our military away unless he has to, unless there is a clearly defined goal.”
In Doha, technical discussions focused on commercial shipping in the strait and will later focus on Tehran’s nuclear capabilities, Vance said, adding: “It’s still quite early, but the discussions are progressing well.”
Iran is determined to gain international recognition of its control over this key oil-transporting waterway and its ability to levy taxes on ships entering or leaving the Gulf, even if it has to do so by force, according to two senior Iranian sources.
Traffic has partially resumed across the strait, which before the war carried a fifth of the world’s trade in oil and liquefied natural gas.
Trump, who has said eliminating Iran’s highly enriched uranium is a top priority, told reporters Wednesday that “Iran’s denuclearization is progressing well,” without elaborating.
Asked about the possibility of a return to all-out war with Iran, Trump added: “Well, I think they’ve come a long way. We hit them really hard last week. I think they’re OK.”
The indirect talks, brokered by Qatar and Pakistan, began Tuesday evening and continue on Wednesday, an Iranian official said.
They are structured as sessions between chief negotiators and specialists, a source familiar with the talks said, adding that Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Qatar’s prime minister to lay the groundwork for the talks but would not attend.
Kushner and Witkoff then met with Qatar’s emir to discuss U.S.-Iran negotiations and developments in Lebanon, where a parallel conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah erupted in early March.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi led a delegation comprising representatives of the Iranian Foreign Ministry, the central bank and the Ministry of Agriculture, which met with the Prime Minister of Qatar and spoke with mediators.
Iran has publicly stated that its priorities include an agreement on the management of the strait and the release of $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets, and the Iranian official said current discussions would focus on those two issues.
The stated U.S. priority is ensuring the free flow of traffic across the strait, the source close to the negotiations said.
