Last UpdateJuly 1, 2026, 2:39 PM EDT
U.S. and Iranian representatives begin their second day of negotiations through Qatari mediators in Doha on Wednesday as President Donald Trump is reportedly considering a return to full-scale attacks on Iran.
WHAT TO KNOW
- Representatives for the U.S. and Iran enter their second day of nuclear deescalation talks in Doha, Qatar, on Wednesday, though Iran refuses to meet face to face with U.S. officials, forcing the sides to deal through Qatari mediators.
- President Donald Trump reportedly held “multiple conversations” on returning to all-out war in Iran if talks fail, though he is reportedly trying to continue going the diplomatic route for now, The Wall Street Journal reported.
- Iran‘s chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said Tehran will not move forward with a final agreement with the United States until the commitments outlined in the previously agreed memorandum of understanding (MOU) begins to be implemented.
- Despite the lack of face-to-face diplomacy, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who are leading the U.S. delegation in Doha, are making progress during technical talks through Qatari mediators, a senior U.S. official told Fox News.
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7 hours ago
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Trump responds to reports he’s considering resuming all-out war with Iran: ‘Come a long way’
President Donald Trump responded Wednesday to reports he was considering resuming all-out war with Iran.
Before the president boarded the new Qatari-gifted Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Trump was asked about him reportedly meeting with War Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caineabout potentially returning to an all-out war with Iran.
“Does this mean you’ve been unhappy with Iran’s adherence to the MOU?” a reporter asked.
“Well, I think they’ve come a long way. We hit them very hard last week. I think they’re fine,” Trump said. “It’s the denuclearization of Iran. It’s very simple. And Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon otherwise.“
The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Trump was meeting with Hegseth and Caine to consider all options in Iran, including returning to full-scale attacks in a move described as “finishing the job.”
Trump’s remarks Wednesday comes amid Iranian leadership’s refusal to engage U.S. negotiators directly during denuclearization talks in Doha, Qatar.
Special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are in Doha for the second day of denuclearization talks, though the U.S. delegation is only communicating with Iran through Qatari mediators.
Posted by Robert McGreevy
2 hours ago
Washington urges Tehran to drop Hormuz toll plan during second day of Doha talks: report
Hormuz / Amirhosein Khorgooi / ISNA via AP
U.S. and Iranian negotiators used the second day of talks in Doha on Wednesday to discuss Iran’s proposal to charge transit fees on ships using the Strait of Hormuz, according to reports.
Citing a U.S. official, Axios reported that Washington urged Tehran to abandon the idea.
The U.S. message to Iran was: “Think bigger,” arguing that lifting sanctions under a broader deal would be “100 times more valuable” than “using a gangster tactic to try and charge a toll.”
The toll issue has emerged as a sticking point in the negotiations. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said Iran would not be permitted to impose tolls on vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz under any final agreement with Washington.
Iran has said it will waive transit fees through the strait for 60 days while nuclear talks with the United States continue, signaling the charges could take effect if negotiations fail.
Posted by Emma Bussey
2 hours ago
Iran claims $6B frozen funds to be unlocked as Qatar talks create new US communication channel
Doha / Qatar
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Wednesday that talks between the Iranian delegation and Qatari officials in Doha had concluded, according to Reuters, citing Iran’s state news agency, IRNA.
Gharibabadi also said the two sides had agreed to establish a communication channel to report and discuss any breaches of the Iran-U.S. memorandum of understanding (MOU).
According to Iran International, Gharibabadi added that Iran and Qatar had also agreed that part of the $6 billion in frozen Iranian funds would be used to purchase goods based on Iran’s needs.
His remarks came after he met with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Doha to discuss the implementation of the MOU.
At the same time, indirect technical talks between the United States and Iran also began in Doha on Wednesday, with Qatar and Pakistan mediating the discussions, Reuters reported.
Posted by Emma Bussey
3 hours ago
Further US bombings on Iran are ‘up to the Iranians,’ Vance says
Vice President JD Vance told reporters Wednesday that a resumption of U.S. strikes on Iran is “up to the Iranians.”
When asked by a reporter if the U.S. could commit to not returning to large-scale combat operations in Iran before the 60 day memorandum of Understanding (MOU) expires, Vance denied providing a hard commitment.
“I can’t commit to anything because obviously it depends on what the Iranians are ultimately going to do,” Vance said.
Referring comments he made during a speech to military personnel at Naval Air Station Oceana moments before, he said “what I can commit to is the president’s not going to send our military back in unless he has to, unless there’s a clearly defined purpose for it. I think that was really the contrast I was trying to draw between open ended military commitments with no clear objective, and what the president of the United States has done, which is define an objective, go and accomplish that objective.”
“If we’ve got to do more, of course, that’s kind of up to the Iranians. If they try to rebuild their nuclear program, if they try to start shooting at commercial vessels again, that’s going to change our calculus. But right now, what the president has said is go and make a deal, go and negotiate in good faith. And that’s what he’s empowered us to do.”
A Tuesday report from The Wall Street Journal revealed that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine were having conversations with President Donald Trump about resuming full-scale strikes on Iran.
Trump, however, downplayed that possibility earlier Wednesday, saying he thinks Iran has “come a long way.”
Posted by Robert McGreevy
3 hours ago
Vance says Iran is ‘further away from developing a nuclear bomb than they have ever been’
Vice President JD Vance said Iran is “further away from developing a nuclear bomb than they have ever been” during a speech to military personnel at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia on Wednesday.
“As we sit here today, their navy is at the bottom of the ocean, and they have no ability to project power like they did even twelve months ago,” Vance said.
Vance then detailed the mission President Donald Trump gave to U.S. soldiers in Iran.
“What else did he ask you to do? He asked you to destroy their nuclear program. And now, trust me, I know because I look at the intelligence estimates, if you look at what our own intelligence says about their nuclear program, they are further away from developing a nuclear bomb than they have ever been… since basically the last twenty or thirty years. And that is because of you and because of your hard work,” he told the sailors.
“And finally,” Vance continued, “what the president asks you to accomplish is to destroy the defense industrial base of that country so that if they ever decided to rebuild their military, or if they ever decided to rebuild that nuclear program, they would be hard pressed to do it. And you did that exactly as well.”
Vance also warned that Iran would face consequences if its leaders chose to attack commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz again or if they attempted to resume Iran’s nuclear program.
“We dropped some bombs a couple of days ago. You know why? Because the Iranians were shooting at commercial ships. So we dropped some bombs, we applied some leverage, and we’ve had free commercial transit for the last three days. If the Iranians try to rebuild the nuclear program, the president’s got options again, because of you. If the Iranians try to threaten their neighbors or fund terrorism, we’ve got options again because of you. But what we must never do is drop bombs just for the sake of dropping bombs. And that is what the president will never ask you to do,” Vance said.
Posted by Robert McGreevy
