The conferences came about this week in New York on the sidelines of the annual UN Common Meeting.
On the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, Qatar held separate talks with Iran and the US on Iran’s nuclear programme and US considerations about Iranian drone transfers to Russia, in accordance with an unique report by the Reuters information company.
Two sources informed the company on Wednesday that the conferences came about on Monday and Tuesday in New York, US.
One of many sources, a diplomat within the Center East briefed on the matter, mentioned extra talks could be held this week and that the conferences have been “talks for talks” to put a basis for an “understanding” on the nuclear difficulty.
Each sources mentioned the talks differed from the current diplomacy Qatar performed that led to Monday’s Iran-US prisoner swap.
On the time of publishing, Qatar’s Ministry of International Affairs had not responded to Al Jazeera’s request for remark.
Tensions between Tehran and Washington have amplified since a minimum of 2018 when then-President Donald Trump shuttered the top of a 2015 deal to curb Tehran’s nuclear prowess and ramped up US sanctions.
The prisoner swap and the unfreezing of $6bn in Iranian funds this week was a uncommon thaw.
When probed if there might be Iran-US talks this week, US officers didn’t deny the likelihood.
“On the subject of maybe the number-one difficulty of concern, which is Iran’s nuclear programme, we proceed to imagine that diplomacy is the easiest way to get a sustainable, efficient consequence,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken mentioned on Monday.
“We’ll proceed to see if there are alternatives for that. On this second, we’re not engaged on that, however we’ll see sooner or later if there are alternatives,” he added.
According to analysts, whereas the prisoner change was a step in direction of de-escalating tensions between the longtime antagonists, it won’t result in a giant change in relations.
Only a few days earlier than the prisoner swap, the US imposed sanctions on dozens of Iranian officers and entities over human rights abuses throughout antigovernment protests in Iran final yr.