Qatar PM Sheikh Mohammed Visits Tehran in First High-Level Qatari Trip Since War Began, Pushes Hormuz De-Escalation

Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani traveled to Tehran on Aug 27 — the first high-level Qatari visit to Iran since the war began Feb 28 — meeting Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, President Masoud Pezeshkian, Parliament Speaker and top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, and Supreme National Security Council secretary Mohsen Rezaei. Discussions centered on the proposed phased Strait of Hormuz plan (temporary shipping corridor plus joint mine-clearing project), freedom of navigation, and creating conditions for a resumption of US-Iran dialogue. Sheikh Mohammed said Qatar 'believes that dialogue and diplomatic solutions remain the optimal path for addressing disputes,' stressing 'the need to respect the sovereignty of neighbouring countries and freedom of navigation.' Rezaei countered that 'the US must first take practical steps to fulfil Iran's conditions and then Iran will proceed to open the Strait of Hormuz.' Qatar — host to the US Al Udeid Air Base and a shared gas field with Iran — has served as a back-channel mediator throughout the war and helped broker the June ceasefire; its own LNG exports have collapsed from 509 cargoes pre-war to just 18 recently amid the shipping disruption.