Qatari PM heads to Tehran to revive US-Iran talks
Photo: REUTERS
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani will arrive in Tehran on Thursday to jumpstart stalled communications between Iran and the United States and de-escalate soaring regional tensions.
Majed al-Ansari, the spokesperson for Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, announced the diplomatic mission on Wednesday via a statement on the social media platform X.
During his visit, Sheikh Mohammed, who serves as Qatar’s foreign minister, will hold talks with “a number of Iranian officials” to “discuss ways to de-escalate tensions” and “create the conditions conducive to dialogue.”
Al-Ansari emphasized Qatar’s diplomatic goals, saying, “The visit comes in line with the State of Qatar’s firm position that the diplomatic path is the best means of resolving differences & promoting security & stability in the region.”
Iran likewise confirmed the scheduled state visit, noting that the bilateral discussions will center on “the continuation of Qatar’s mediation efforts and initiatives, as well as other regional developments.”
Operating as a crucial back-channel intermediary between Washington and Tehran, Qatar previously brokered a memorandum of understanding in June that temporarily suspended hostilities. However, that truce collapsed in July, and the ongoing conflict is currently entering its sixth month without a clear diplomatic resolution, even though active combat has largely paused.
Meanwhile, the United States has pledged to intensify economic pressure against Tehran by penalizing its international trading partners.
On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump told Al Jazeera that he felt “no hurry” to revive negotiations with the Iranian government, asserting his belief that both military actions and economic sanctions remain highly effective tools against the regime. Trump remarked, “I have no time schedule; whatever it takes.”
Conversely, Iran continues to vehemently condemn the American economic pressure campaign. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi dispatched a formal letter to the United Nations on Wednesday, branding the latest round of sanctions as an “act of state and economic terrorism” and imploring UN member states to refuse to enforce them.
Araghchi wrote, “The sanctions deliberately harm civilians by restricting access to food, medicine, medical equipment, energy and other essentials, violating rights including the rights to life, health, food and an adequate standard of living.”
The primary point of war between the two nations remains control over the Strait of Hormuz, a vital maritime chokepoint that carried one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments before the US-Israel war on Iran erupted in February.
Tehran demands sovereign control over the passage, whereas the United States insists that the strait must remain an international shipping route accessible to all nations. This fundamental disagreement triggered the collapse of the June agreement.
As a result, oil shipments transiting the strait plummeted to a three-month low of just 5 million barrels per day (bpd) on Monday, down from the 20 million bpd recorded prior to the outbreak of the war.
According to the Qatari Foreign Ministry, Sheikh Mohammed will address this maritime crisis during his discussions in Tehran on Thursday, emphasizing “the need for it to return to the status quo prior to 28 February.”
In tandem with Qatar’s actions, other regional players are stepping up diplomatic interventions. Two days prior to Qatar’s announcement, Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi met with his Iranian counterpart, Araghchi, in Tehran.
Following their talks, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi announced that the two nations had designated a new, temporary shipping channel within the strait. However, Gharibabadi stressed that Iran would not reopen the strategic waterway until the United States fulfills all the commitments it agreed to under the June accord, which includes lifting economic sanctions and unfreezing blocked Iranian financial assets.
Pakistan’s Army Chief Asim Munir traveled to Tehran earlier in the week to help “end the stalemate” in the conflict, with officials in Islamabad reporting “significant progress” from those discussions.
Reflecting on these frantic diplomatic pushes, Mostafa Khoshcheshm, a professor at the University of Applied Sciences in Tehran, explained that neighboring countries are actively advocating for peace negotiations because “they believe that the situation is moving towards escalation.”
Khoshcheshm warned, “They know that if war breaks out, it would be a fully-fledged war and the fire would spill over into the entire region and beyond, leaving a detrimental impact on the global economy,” and concluded, “So there are hectic diplomatic moves on the part of these countries.”
Source: Al Jazeera (adapted)
