Qatar held separate bilateral meetings with the United States and Iran this week that touched on Iran's nuclear program and U.S. concerns about Iranian drone transfers to Russia, two sources familiar with the matter said. The sources said the meetings have not involved the kind of shuttle diplomacy Qatar conducted in Doha this year in which Qatari diplomats went back and forth between the two sides, ultimately leading to Monday's U.S.-Iran prisoner exchange. Qatar, a wealthy Gulf Arab state with diplomatic ambitions, is pressing both sides to engage in more talks and reach "understandings," sources told Reuters earlier. One source, who like the others cited spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said meetings took place on Monday and Tuesday in New York on the sidelines of the annual U.N. General Assembly. The second source, a diplomat in the Middle East briefed on the matter, said there would be additional bilateral talks this week, but did not provide details. The diplomat described the New York meetings as "talks for talks," saying the idea was to lay the ground for future indirect discussions to achieve an "understanding" on the nuclear issue. (https://neuters.de/world/middle-east/qatar-held-separate-talks-with-us-iran-touching-nuclear-drones-2023-09-20/) Iranian, Qatari and U.S. spokespeople did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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