Doha Mediating Between Tehran and Washington: Foreign Minister

Qatar’s Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on Wednesday said his country was serving as a central go-between in the deadlocked talks between the United States and Iran over a possible return to the discarded 2015 nuclear deal. “Qatar is working on de-escalation through a political and diplomatic process to return to the nuclear agreement,” Al Thani told Doha’s state-funded Qatar News Agency following phone calls the minister had with US Special Representative for Iran Robert Malley and US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan. As an ally of both countries, Qatar is uniquely positioned to assist the currently nonexistent negotiations, which for now seem a long way away. President Joe Biden has insisted that Tehran must first return to full compliance with the pact’s restrictions on its nuclear program before Washington can lift the sanctions reimposed by former President Donald Trump after he abandoned the deal in 2018. Iran, meanwhile, demands that the US be the first to re-enter the agreement.