Qatar’s Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman, is travelling to Tehran in an attempt to revive negotiations between Iran and the US and discuss the management of the Strait of Hormuz.
Thursday's visit comes as a war that has now continued for six months remains deadlocked after the US government imposed a sweeping new set of sanctions on Iran in an attempt to isolate the country’s economy.
Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari said the talks would cover regional security, the resumption of dialogue and “freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and the need for it to return to the status quo prior to February 28”.
Sheikh Mohammed's visit comes as Qatar seeks to build on its role as an intermediary between Tehran and Washington and preserve the June 17 ceasefire that halted much of the fighting.
Sheikh Mohammed, who is also Qatar’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, would meet Iranian officials to discuss ways to “de-escalate tensions and create the conditions conducive to dialogue”, Mr Al Ansari said.
The visit reflected Qatar’s “firm position that the diplomatic path is the best means of resolving differences and promoting security and stability in the region”, he wrote in a post on X.
Qatar, a Gulf neighbour of Iran and a US ally, has served as a key back-channel between Tehran and Washington. It played a direct role in securing the June ceasefire.
But Doha's diplomatic efforts face a major obstacle over the Strait of Hormuz, where Tehran has sought to use its control over maritime traffic as leverage in negotiations with Washington.
IRGC demands
On the eve of Sheikh Mohammed’s visit, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it would reopen the strait only if Washington accepted conditions laid out by Tehran.
Iran’s central military command said the waterway was under its control and that no vessel could cross it “without Iran’s permission and management”.
“The Strait of Hormuz belongs to Iran and the country of Oman,” the IRGC said in a statement. “We have been in negotiations with Oman for about a month and we have reached results that are acceptable to both sides.”
The IRGC said agreements had been reached on “the share of each country in the strait ... and its revenues”, but accused the US of blocking the process.
“If the United States stops obstructing and returns to the agreement, we can open the Strait of Hormuz within the framework of the agreement reached. Therefore, our conditions must be accepted by the United States,” it said.
“If the United States does not accept our conditions, the Strait of Hormuz will not be opened under any circumstances.”
The claim that Iran and Oman had reached an agreement was later qualified by a senior Iranian source, who told Reuters the arrangement had not been finalised and that discussions over its details were continuing.
Qatar wants conditions in the Strait of Hormuz restored to those that existed before US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched a war on Iran on February 28, while Tehran ties any reopening to concessions from Washington.
Sheikh Mohammed's visit to Tehran comes as shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains subdued amid daily attacks on vessels that have been blamed on Iran.
On Wednesday, shipping data showed traffic through the Strait of Hormuz rose to 10 commodity vessels from eight the previous day, while movement through the Bab Al Mandeb strait fell to 19 vessels from 24. The figures may exclude vessels whose tracking systems are switched off.
Oil flows through the strait have fallen to a three-month low, with just five million barrels per day transiting on Monday, Reuters said, citing the latest ship-tracking data. Before the war, the strait carried roughly 20 million barrels per day of crude oil.
Doha played a key role in mediating between the US and Iran to reach the June 17 framework – described as a memorandum of understanding – for negotiations seeking a long-term ceasefire.
