Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani.
Doha: Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani is due to visit Tehran on Thursday, August 27, as Doha seeks to ease tensions between Iran and the United States and revive stalled diplomatic efforts.
The visit comes nearly six months after the conflict began on February 28, with fighting largely reduced but no political settlement in sight.
Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the visit in a post on X on Wednesday, August 26. Spokesman Majed al-Ansari said Sheikh Mohammed, who also serves as foreign minister, would meet Iranian officials to discuss ways to “de-escalate tensions and create the conditions conducive to dialogue”.
Al-Ansari said the agenda would include regional security and freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, adding that Qatar believed diplomacy was the best means of resolving differences and promoting stability.
Iran confirmed the visit, saying the discussions would cover Qatar’s mediation initiatives and wider regional developments.
Doha has served as an intermediary between Washington and Tehran, helping secure a memorandum of understanding in June that briefly reduced hostilities. Disagreements over security and shipping arrangements later derailed the deal.
The strategic waterway is expected to be a key issue during the talks. On Wednesday, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the strait would reopen only if the United States accepted conditions set by Tehran.
The IRGC said Iran and Oman had reached an understanding after about a month of negotiations on managing the waterway, but accused Washington of blocking its implementation.
“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,” the IRGC said, warning that it would otherwise remain closed.
Iran and Oman had earlier announced a proposed phased framework for a temporary shipping corridor and mine-clearing operations.
Shipping data showed that 10 commodity vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, up from eight the previous day. Reuters reported that oil flows had fallen to about five million barrels per day on Monday, August 24, compared with roughly 20 million barrels per day before the conflict.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said he was in “no hurry” to resume negotiations with Tehran and gave no timetable for ending the confrontation.
“I have no time schedule; whatever it takes,” Trump told Al Jazeera on Wednesday, saying he believed economic and military pressure on Iran had proved effective.
Washington has continued to tighten economic pressure on Tehran, including through measures targeting its trade partners. Trump also reiterated that preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon remained central to the US position.
He maintained that the Strait of Hormuz was open to navigation, saying US forces had cleared mines and destroyed 22 Iranian boats overnight. Tehran has maintained that its conditions must be accepted before shipping can fully resume.
The conflicting positions underscore the challenge facing Qatar as it attempts to restore dialogue between Washington and Tehran while addressing tensions over the vital shipping route.
This post was last modified on August 27, 2026 12:42 pm