Turkey’s intelligence chief, Ibrahim Kalın, said Monday that Qatar will host U.S. Vice President JD Vance and senior Iranian security official Mohsen Rezaei next week, calling the meeting “an important opportunity for a breakthrough in negotiations.”
Kalın made the remarks at a conference in Ankara. He did not give an exact date.
The United States, Iran and Qatar had not publicly confirmed the meeting as of Monday.
Kalın said Turkey and other mediators were making progress on a seven-point plan to end the standoff between the United States and Iran, which he called a fair deal.
Under the plan, Iran would receive sanctions relief and access to frozen funds. In return, it would commit not to build nuclear weapons, hold separate nuclear talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
“It’s just a matter of sequencing right now who will take the first step,” Kalın said. “That’s where we are.”
He also warned that time was short. “If you can get this agreement in the next few days, then there will not be a strike,” he said, adding that without a deal, new U.S. attacks on Iran could come within days.
Kalın said President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan urged President Donald Trump in a phone call on Saturday not to launch another round of strikes, warning it would set off a new cycle of violence in the region.
Vance has been leading a quiet push to restart talks. Late last month, he offered to meet Rezaei to discuss ending the war, and Qatari mediators have been shuttling to Tehran.
The United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran in February. A ceasefire has held loosely since April, but shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remains disrupted.
Erdoğan is expected to host regional leaders in Antalya on the sidelines of the COP31 climate summit.