During the United Nations General Assembly meeting, Qatar engaged in separate discussions with both Iran and the United States concerning Iran's nuclear program and U.S. apprehensions regarding Iranian drone transfers to Russia. Reuters reported these developments based on information from two sources.
These meetings occurred in New York on Monday and Tuesday, as disclosed by one of the sources, a Middle Eastern diplomat with knowledge of the situation. The diplomat mentioned that additional talks were planned for the week and that the meetings aimed to establish a basis for understanding the nuclear issue, characterizing them as "talks for talks."
It's worth noting that these discussions differed from Qatar's recent diplomatic efforts that facilitated the Iran-U.S. prisoner exchange announced on Monday.
As of the time of reporting, Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs had not responded to Al Jazeera's request for comments.
Tensions between Tehran and Washington have been on the rise since at least 2018, marked by former President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear capabilities and the subsequent imposition of increased U.S. sanctions.