Iran and the US concluded a round of indirect talks on Wednesday with no sign they had made headway toward a lasting peace, focusing instead on issues that they said had been resolved when an interim deal was announced two weeks ago. Sources said negotiators spent two days in Doha discussing maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.
The US and Iran held indirect technical talks in Doha on Wednesday as they seek to agree on the flow of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and secure a lasting ceasefire, a source with direct knowledge of the talks and an Iranian official said.
The prospects for renewed US-Iran diplomacy remained uncertain on Tuesday, with Tehran denying any plans for high-level negotiations even as US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner met Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani in Doha to discuss the ongoing negotiations and regional security.
Conflicting signals from Washington and Tehran over the next phase of US-Iran negotiations have cast fresh uncertainty over efforts to consolidate a fragile ceasefire, even as commercial shipping continues to move cautiously through Strait of Hormuz.
The United States and Iran have agreed to halt their latest hostilities in the Gulf and resume negotiations for a comprehensive treaty, raising hopes that a fragile interim peace arrangement can survive despite days of escalating military exchanges.
Iran and US continued their attacks in the Gulf as each accused the other of violating an increasingly precarious 14-point interim deal signed recently to end their four-month-old war. Iran early today launched missiles and drones on US military sites in Kuwait and Bahrain, said media reports.
A tanker was struck by a projectile in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, as US-Iran tensions flared over the vital global energy shipping route, said media reports. Bahrain was also targeted in a drone attack in Tehran’s likely response to overnight airstrikes by the US.
The US military launched a new series of airstrikes on Friday after Tehran struck a commercial ship in the Strait of Hormuz with a drone, thus presenting a fresh test for the fragile ceasefire, said media reports, even as Israel and Lebanon reached a framework deal for peace.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has expanded its visa-on-arrival programme to include nationals of six countries and their accompanying family members.
Government employees in Dubai will once again have the option of a four-day work week during the summer under the 2026 edition of the 'Our Flexible Summer' initiative, as the emirate expands flexible working arrangements to improve work-life balance while maintaining public services.
