Qatar is maintaining daily phone contacts with the United States and Iran in an effort to bring both sides back to negotiations, though no resumption has been confirmed, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said on Tuesday.
Doha called the latest US sanctions on Iran unilateral and urged the Strait of Hormuz be restored to pre-crisis conditions, linking a diplomatic settlement to the reopening of the waterway and the security of global energy and food supply chains. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei dismissed US claims the strait remains open and vowed to counter the sanctions using all multilateral tools.
The comments followed US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's announcement of a new wave of sanctions he described as an economic D-Day. Al Ansari also urged Israel to fulfil its obligations if it wishes to be part of the region, while welcoming Washington's decision to remove Syria from its state sponsors of terrorism list.