The Axios website, quoting an American official, revealed that the Doha discussions between the United States and Iran led to a new understanding to maintain calm and restraint during the next week, with the aim of creating a “constructive environment” that allows progress to be made in implementing aspects of the memorandum of understanding between the two sides.
The American official said that the understanding stipulates that the situation will remain calm next week, allowing progress on the issues at hand “without the flight of missiles,” in reference to Washington’s desire to prevent any military escalation that might undermine the Doha process.
He added that US President Donald Trump was clear in his approach, pointing out that every time Iran opened fire, the United States would respond “with greater fire” and against targets that would further weaken its position in the Strait of Hormuz, as he put it.
According to Axios, the meetings that took place in Doha were positive and paved the way for technical talks, but the site indicated that it is still unclear whether US envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met directly with Iranian officials.
The Doha discussions focused on three basic files: the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, the frozen Iranian assets, and the ceasefire in Lebanon, while an American official spoke about ongoing Gulf discussions regarding how to manage the Strait after the end of the effects of the memorandum of understanding, and these discussions have begun to intersect with the American-Iranian track.
In the Hormuz file, Witkoff and Kushner are trying to convince the Iranians that insisting on imposing transit fees on commercial ships might undermine the agreement with the United States, as Axios quoted an American official as saying that the basic message to Tehran was: “Think bigger.”
The official explained that the revenues that Iran could achieve from developing and selling its oil and resources freely, if the United States lifted all sanctions within a comprehensive agreement, would be much greater than any gains associated with imposing transit fees in the Strait.
Regarding the frozen funds file, the website quoted a regional source as saying that during the Doha talks, Washington and Tehran reached an understanding regarding the release of a first batch of frozen Iranian funds in Qatar worth $3 billion, provided that it is not transferred in cash to Iran, but rather used by the Iranian Central Bank to purchase humanitarian goods, including goods from the American market. But American officials denied reaching such an understanding, stressing that no money had been released yet.
These data come after meetings held by Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman with Witkoff and Kushner, which dealt with the latest developments in the talks between the United States and Iran, and the efforts aimed at establishing a ceasefire in Lebanon, as Qatar, in partnership with Pakistan, continues to manage the mediation paths related to the memorandum of understanding.
The importance of the “Week of Calm” understanding lies in the fact that it gives the mediators a limited opportunity to test the seriousness of the two parties before moving on to more complex stages, especially since the issues at hand are interconnected between Hormuz and Lebanon and the frozen funds and sanctions. Any strike or missile during this period may return the negotiations to point zero, and turn Doha from a testing ground for diplomacy into an additional station on the path of escalation.
The inclusion of the ceasefire in Lebanon on the discussion agenda also reflects that the Lebanese file has become part of the architecture of the regional truce, not just a side detail. For the mediators, calm in the south constitutes a necessary element for achieving broader understandings between Washington and Tehran, just as the security of Hormuz constitutes a condition for the stability of trade and energy in the region.
