Kushner and Witkoff are in Qatar to talk to Iran (without looking at them)
Because nothing says high-stakes Middle East diplomacy quite like sending a real estate mogul and the president's son-in-law to sit in separate hotel rooms and pass notes through Qatari mediators.
The latest round of "technical talks" to keep the US-Iran ceasefire from turning into a total dumpster fire has kicked off in Doha. But don't picture a dramatic sit-down across a mahogany table. Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner aren't even looking at the Iranian delegates. Instead, everyone is sitting in separate rooms while Qatari officials run back and forth playing the world's highest-stakes game of telephone.
Aside from Iran wanting its frozen billions back, the real sticking point is the Strait of Hormuz. Iran basically claims the ceasefire agreement gave them total authority over the strait, openly warning that any ship choosing a non-Iranian-mandated route is entirely on its own if "anything happens" to it. It is a bold strategy for a global trade chokepoint, to say the least.
Putting the keys to global oil shipping in the hands of people who treat international waterways like a toll road they just paved is certainly one way to run a foreign policy.
Source: The New York Times
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