Qatar says US-Iran mediation efforts continuing but no direct talks planned

The Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global oil and gas shipments usually pass, has effectively been closed since the start of the US and Israel's war with Iran in late February due to Iranian attacks on vessels and a US blockade of Iranian ports.In mid-June, the US and Iran signed a preliminary agreement to end their conflict and reopen the strait. However, it fell apart within weeks, as a dispute over control of the waterway and Iranian attacks triggered an escalating exchange of strikes.On Saturday, Trump said he had called off what he described as a "massive attack" by US and Israeli forces on Iran after Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar had urged restraint to allow mediators time to broker a new deal on the Strait of Hormuz and "the denuclearisation of Iran".The president said talks with Iran were due to begin on Monday afternoon.But Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baqai dismissed the idea that it was talking directly to the US and said there was no plan to receive or send a delegation.Instead, he said Iran was having "constructive" negotiations with Oman over "a path to ensure the security of shipping passage through the Strait of Hormuz".Baq...