US, Iran agree to maintain ceasefire into next week as Doha talks continue

WASHINGTON, United States — A US official said an understanding reached during talks in Doha will keep a ceasefire in place into next week, with both sides expected to maintain calm. The agreement aims to create a "constructive environment" for progress across all dimensions of the memorandum of understanding and to halt missile fire. According to the same official, the US President reiterated that any missile launch would draw a larger response and that targets weakening Iran's position in the Strait of Hormuz would be struck. Two regional sources said the meetings went positively and cleared the way for technical negotiations, though it remained unclear whether US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Iranian officials directly. The Doha discussions covered the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, frozen Iranian assets and a ceasefire in Lebanon. A US official said Gulf states are negotiating how to manage the strait once the memorandum of understanding expires, talks that are beginning to overlap with the US-Iran negotiations. Witkoff and Kushner were reported to be trying to persuade the Iranians that insistence on transit fees could sabotage a deal with Washington. The indirect technical talks between the United States and Iran opened on Wednesday in Doha, hosted by Qatar and Pakistan as mediating parties.