U.S. and Iranian officials have begun indirect talks in Doha mediated by Qatar and Pakistan, U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Tuesday with Qatar's prime minister but were not attending Wednesday's technical talks, and a senior U.S. official said both sides have agreed to stop attacking each other.
CENTCOM said U.S. fighter jets conducted strikes on 10 Iranian military targets at multiple locations in direct response to a one-way attack drone that hit the Panama-flagged M/T Kiku as it was passing in the Strait of Hormuz while carrying more than two million barrels of crude oil, striking missile and drone storage facilities, coastal radar positions, military surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, air defense sites and minelayer capabilities.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it launched ballistic missiles and drones at "eight key pieces of infrastructure" at the Ali al-Salem base in Kuwait and the Fifth Naval Fleet in Port Salman, Bahrain, and said it destroyed them while accusing the United States of violating the ceasefire agreement; a U.S. official said there were no reported U.S. casualties or major impacts or damage to U.S. facilities in the Middle East, Bahrain said a residential building was damaged with "no loss of life," Kuwait's army said its air defenses intercepted two ballistic missiles with no damage reported, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center raised the threat level in the strait to "substantial" warning mariners of mines and of a naval presence as clearance operations continue, and CENTCOM said commercial vessels were continuing to operate in the Strait of Hormuz.
Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari had said Witkoff and Kushner were in Doha to meet with mediators and Qatari officials and that "to the best of my knowledge, there are no direct meetings scheduled between the two parties in the coming days," and Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei had said an expert Iranian delegation would travel to Doha later in the week to discuss implementation of the memorandum of understanding and that "over the coming days, we will not have any negotiation meetings with the U.S. side at any level."
Reuters and AFP reported the talks began Tuesday night and are focused on the release of Tehran's frozen assets and the Strait of Hormuz, and a diplomat said officials will discuss "the memorandum of understanding building on the progress made at the Lake Lucerne Summit."
Qatari state media reported Tehran is demanding the release of funds in two phases over a 60-day period beginning with the unfreezing of $6 billion currently held in Qatari banks; the report said a key point of disagreement is a U.S. proposal to establish an exclusive credit line allowing the funds to be used only to purchase U.S. agricultural products, including wheat, soybeans and corn, a proposal Iran has reportedly rejected while insisting its central bank retain full authority to determine how released funds are spent.
Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani on Tuesday to discuss the ongoing peace talks between the U.S. and Iran and the ceasefire in Lebanon, and a senior Trump administration official told CBS News that Witkoff and Kushner had very positive conversations with regional leaders and that good progress continues to be made as technical talks continue.
Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday the United States has "accomplished the core mission" of making sure Iran never has a nuclear weapon and that "we have all the cards in the negotiation," saying the U.S. is in a strong position whether the negotiations succeed or fail.
Iranian state media published a schedule for the funeral of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, saying ceremonies will take place across Tehran, Qom and Mashhad and in the Iraqi cities of Karbala and Najaf, with officials expecting some 15 to 20 million mourners; state media said commemorations will last six days beginning July 4 with three days of events in Tehran culminating in a main funeral procession on July 6, the capital's airspace will be closed during that period, the body will be transferred July 7 to Qom then Najaf and Karbala in Iraq, and the final day of commemorations will be July 9 in Mashhad where he will be buried.
Iranian state broadcaster IRIB reported a foreign-flagged container ship ran aground in the Strait of Hormuz after deviating from the designated shipping route and becoming stranded in shallow waters outside the Iranian-approved navigation corridor; Iranian officials say the country's designated entry and exit route passes south of Larak Island and that vessels coordinating transit with the IRGC Navy can receive scheduled passage and security escort, which the IRGC has said can involve paying tolls, and Oman and the U.N.'s International Maritime Organization last week announced a new route closer to Oman's coastline that Iran denounced.
CBS analysis said transits through the strait have steadily increased since the memorandum of understanding was signed two weeks ago and that the MoU calls for lifting U.S. and Iranian restrictions and toll-free transit of the strait for at least 60 days to allow time to negotiate a wider peace deal, and Iran's chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on state television that from the day the blockade was lifted until now Iran has exported more than 40 million barrels of oil after being unable to export during the blockade.
Analysts cited by CBS said the Strait of Hormuz may not return to its pre-war state, noting Iran has signaled it could impose charges on vessels after the MoU's 60-day period, that Iran and Oman issued a joint statement saying future management would have "costs associated" in line with international standards, that Oman's foreign minister denied ambiguity and insisted there would be no transit fees while not ruling out fees for services, that the Persian Gulf Strait Authority has floated requiring ships to take out insurance to cross the strait which the International Maritime Organization refuted, and that some experts say lifting sanctions and allowing Iran access to frozen funds would reduce Tehran's incentive to seek revenue from transit fees.
President Trump was briefed on all-out war options in Iran but opted to stick with talks.
President Trump said denuclearization of Iran was moving along well and that he had "good meetings" in Doha.
Energy markets moved in response to developments in the talks, with oil prices first rising amid reports that Iran refused to meet directly with U.S. officials and later falling after President Trump said the talks in Doha were going well.