Qatar’s prime minister to visit Tehran, seeking to revive US-Iran talks

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani is due to visit Tehran on Thursday for discussions on de-escalating tensions and reviving dialogue between Iran and the United States.

Key points

• Sheikh Mohammed's visit comes two days after Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi met his Iranian counterpart, Araghchi, in Tehran.
• A spokesman for Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed the visit in an official note on X on Wednesday.
• Qatar has served as a back-channel negotiator between Washington and Tehran and supported secure a memorandum of understanding in June that briefly paused hostilities.
• After those negotiations, Iran's deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, noted the two countries had agreed on a new temporary route for shipping in the strait.
• Oil flows through the strait have since fallen to a three-month low, with just 5 million barrels per day (bpd) transiting on Monday.

For context, a spokesman for Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed the visit in an official note on X on Wednesday.

Majed al-Ansari remarked Sheikh Mohammed. This person is additionally Qatar's foreign minister, will meet with "a number of Iranian officials" in Tehran to "discuss ways to de-escalate tensions" and "create the conditions conducive to dialogue".

"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, " he continued.

Iran additionally confirmed the visit, saying the discussions will cover "the continuation of Qatar's mediation efforts and initiatives, as well as other regional developments".

Qatar has served as a back-channel negotiator between Washington and Tehran and supported secure a memorandum of understanding in June that briefly paused hostilities. The agreement collapsed in July, and the conflict is now nearing its sixth month, with fighting largely paused but no diplomatic breakthrough in sight.

Notably, the US has, meanwhile, promised to growth economic pressure on Tehran by sanctioning its trade partners.

US President Donald Trump informed Al Jazeera on Wednesday that he was in "no hurry" to resume negotiations with Iran, saying that he believed economic and military action against Tehran were both effective. "I have no time schedule; whatever it takes, " he remarked. Iran has continued to denounce the economic pressure campaign.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote to the United Nations on Wednesday calling the new sanctions an "act of state and economic terrorism" and urging member states not to implement them.

"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", he remarked.

Notably, the two sides additionally remain at odds over the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway that handled one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments before the US-Israel war on Iran began in February.

While the US wants it to remain an international waterway that is free for all, iran wants control over the strait. That disagreement in part led to the collapse of the memorandum signed in June.

Oil flows through the strait have since fallen to a three-month low, with just 5 million barrels per day (bpd) transiting on Monday. Before the war, the strait carried roughly 20 million bpd of crude oil.

Qatar's Foreign Ministry remarked Sheikh Mohammed will additionally discuss the waterway in his meetings in Tehran on Thursday, focusing on "the need for it to return to the status quo prior to February 28".

But he insisted that the waterway will not reopen until the US fulfils its commitments under the June accord, including the lifting of sanctions and the release of frozen assets.

Pakistan's army chief, Asim Munir, additionally visited Tehran earlier in the week in a bid to "end the stalemate" in the conflict, with Islamabad reporting "significant progress" in those negotiations.

Mostafa Khoshcheshm, a professor at the University of Applied Sciences in Tehran, remarked that regional countries were pushing for dialogue as "they believe that the situation is moving towards escalation".

"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, " he remarked. "So there are hectic diplomatic moves on the part of these countries."

For now, qatar's prime minister to visit Tehran, seeking to revive US remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.