Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani is scheduled to travel to Tehran on Thursday for discussions aimed at easing regional tensions and restarting diplomatic engagement between Iran and the United States.
A spokesperson for Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed the upcoming visit in a statement posted on X on Wednesday.
Majed al-Ansari stated that Sheikh Mohammed, who also serves as Qatar’s foreign minister, will hold meetings with several Iranian officials in Tehran to explore avenues for reducing tensions and establishing conditions favorable to dialogue.
“The visit aligns with the State of Qatar’s firm stance that diplomacy is the most effective approach for resolving disputes and advancing security and stability in the region,” he noted.
Iran also acknowledged the planned visit, indicating that the talks would address “the continuation of Qatar’s mediation efforts and initiatives, along with other regional developments.”
Qatar has historically acted as a back-channel mediator between Washington and Tehran, playing a key role in brokering a memorandum of understanding in June that temporarily halted hostilities. That agreement fell apart in July, and the conflict is now approaching its sixth month, with active fighting largely on hold but no diplomatic resolution in sight.
In the meantime, the United States has pledged to intensify economic pressure on Tehran by imposing sanctions on its trading partners.
US President Donald Trump told Al Jazeera on Wednesday that he was in “no hurry” to restart negotiations with Iran, asserting that both economic and military measures against Tehran have proven effective.
“I have no time schedule; whatever it takes,” he remarked.
Iran has continued to condemn the US economic pressure campaign.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi addressed a letter to the United Nations on Wednesday, labeling the new sanctions as “an act of state and economic terrorism” and calling on member states to refrain from enforcing 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 stated.
The two countries also remain divided over the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway that previously handled one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments prior to the US-Israel conflict with Iran that began in February.
Iran seeks greater control over the strait, while the US advocates for it to remain an international waterway accessible to all nations. This disagreement contributed in part to the collapse of the June memorandum.
Oil flows through the strait have since declined to a three-month low, with approximately 5 million barrels per day transiting on Monday. Before the conflict, the strait carried roughly 20 million barrels per day of crude oil.
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry indicated that Sheikh Mohammed will also address the waterway during his Thursday meetings in Tehran, emphasizing “the need for it to return to the status quo prior to February 28.”
Sheikh Mohammed’s visit follows two days after Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi held talks with his Iranian counterpart, Araghchi, in Tehran.
Following those discussions, Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, announced that the two nations had agreed on a new temporary shipping route through the strait.
However, he maintained that the waterway would not reopen until the US fulfills its commitments under the June agreement, including lifting sanctions and releasing frozen assets.
Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir, also traveled to Tehran earlier in the week in an effort to “end the stalemate” in the conflict, with Islamabad reporting “significant progress” from those discussions.
Mostafa Khoshcheshm, a professor at the University of Applied Sciences in Tehran, observed that regional nations are actively promoting dialogue because “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 explained. “So there are hectic diplomatic moves on the part of these countries.”
