American diplomats in Doha have refused to sit down with Iranian counterparts, sources confirm, walking out of indirect talks as the UK scrambles to salvage a backchannel. The snub came after Tehran demanded the removal of Treasury sanctions as a precondition. Three separate diplomatic sources told The Journal that the US team, led by special envoy Robert Malley, left the negotiating table on Tuesday evening after a terse exchange.
'They didn't even want to be in the same room,' one source said. 'This was a planned walkout. They had the line of departure prepped.
' The collapse has shoved the UK into the lead, with Foreign Office officials now shuttling between hotel suites in Doha and Muscat. Downing Street confirms that a 'parallel track' has been opened, but refuses to name any British interlocutors. Uncovered documents from a leaked Foreign Office email show that the UK team has been given a 'mandate to explore options outside the JCPOA framework'.
That is a concession to the Iranians. But the question is: what is the price? Tehran has publicly demanded up to $10 billion in frozen assets be released.
The US Treasury has quietly begun thawing a small portion less than $500 million according to internal wire transfers seen by this reporter. But it's a drop in the ocean. 'The UK is not a neutral broker,' a former CIA officer with decades of Iran experience told me.
'They have their own commercial interests. BP, Shell, Standard Chartered. They want back in.
The US is playing chicken, and the UK is trying to clean up the mess.' Meanwhile, the Iranian delegation has not left Doha. They are waiting.
One Iranian source said they had been authorised to 'make a grand gesture' but only if the US reciprocates. The gesture? Not nuclear.
It's about prisoners. A swap. British-Iranian dual nationals.
But the US isn't buying. 'This is a negotiation about who blinks first,' the source added. 'And right now, Washington has its eyes shut.
' The silence from the White House is deafening. The National Security Council has not returned calls. The State Department's spokesperson offered only a 'no comment'.
But behind closed doors, officials are furious. They feel burned by Iran's insistence on linking sanctions relief to nuclear compliance. The UK is walking a tightrope.
They need a win. But a bad deal could destabilise the entire region. The clock is ticking.
Diplomats in Doha are booking flights home. But some are staying. The question is: who will blink?
