Qatari Mediators Return to Tehran for U.S.-Iran Deal Effort, Official Says

Qatari mediators returned to Tehran on October 30 in an effort to reach a deal between the United States and Iran, according to an official briefed on the talks. The reported return follows an earlier Qatari delegation's visit to the Iranian capital. At its weekly briefing on October 27, Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the earlier visit as part of continuing consultations and mediation. Ibrahim Al Hashemi, director of the ministry's Media and Communication Department, said messages, proposals and views were still passing between Washington and Tehran through Qatar's mediation channel, in coordination with its partners. He said mediators were preserving a “window of hope” and that negotiations and sustained efforts to resolve outstanding differences were needed for a lasting settlement. In that briefing, Al Hashemi said Qatar and Pakistan were working with Saudi Arabia and the Mecca Defense Alliance to reduce tensions. He called for a regional security framework based on respect for state sovereignty and mutual nonaggression. He also said Iran needed to turn positive statements into action by ending threats against countries in the region and ensuring freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz. Those remarks set out Qatar's position before the mediators' reported return on October 30.