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The U.S. and Iran held technical talks in Doha on Wednesday to agree on the flow of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and secure a lasting ceasefire, Reuters reported, citing a source with direct knowledge of the talks and an Iranian official.
U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and envoy Steve Witkoff met Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani to lay the groundwork for the negotiations, the source said.
Qatar is mediating the talks alongside Pakistan.
Kushner and Witkoff would not attend the discussions themselves, according to the source with direct knowledge of the talks.
The talks are based on a 14-point interim accord signed last month that was intended to halt the war that began with U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran in February and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The accord also set up 60 days of negotiations for a permanent peace deal.
However, the U.S. and Iran have publicly sparred over the meaning of the interim pact, leading to tit-for-tat strikes over the past week.
The Doha talks are structured as sessions between chief negotiators and specialists, the source with knowledge of the talks said.
They began Tuesday night and were continuing on Wednesday, according to the Iranian official.
Iran has publicly stated that its priorities include agreeing on the management of the Strait of Hormuz and the release of $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets.
The Iranian official said the current round of discussions would focus on those two issues.
The stated priority of the U.S. is to ensure the free flow of traffic through the strait, the source with knowledge of the talks said.
Iran is determined to win international recognition of its control over the strait and its ability to levy fees on ships entering or leaving the Gulf, even if it has to do so by force, two senior Iranian sources said Wednesday.
Traffic has partially resumed through the Strait of Hormuz, which handled one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas trade before the war.
Iranian state media said Wednesday that a foreign container ship had run aground in the Strait of Hormuz after entering shallow waters outside the shipping route designated by Iranian authorities.
"Hormuz continues to reopen but it's patchy, unpredictable, and not fully transparent," said Vandana Hari, founder of oil market analysis provider Vanda Insights.
The war triggered Iranian attacks on Gulf states hosting U.S. military bases and killed thousands of people, mainly in Iran and Lebanon. It also pushed up oil and fuel prices.
Oil prices edged higher on Wednesday after falling in previous days when Iranian and U.S. strikes and counter-strikes were halted.
The interim deal between the U.S. and Iran also provides for an end to the conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The U.S. has backed a separate track of talks between Israel and Lebanon's government, which produced a framework security deal.
Hezbollah has dismissed the deal, while analysts warn it could entrench a stalemate in Lebanon.
Intensive diplomatic activity on Lebanon had been underway between various parties, including the U.S., up until Tuesday evening, a source with knowledge of the talks said.
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