Iran International
Three regional mediators have visited Tehran in three days in an intensifying diplomatic push to revive Iran-US talks, even as the two sides remain deeply divided over the Strait of Hormuz and Washington’s economic pressure campaign.
Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani arrived on Thursday, following Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi on Tuesday and Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir on Monday, as regional powers seek to create a path toward de-escalation and renewed negotiations.
Al Thani’s visit, his first to Iran since the war began in late February, came after days of diplomacy focused partly on finding an arrangement over Hormuz that could provide an opening for broader talks.
He met President Masoud Pezeshkian, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Parliament Speaker and senior negotiator Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf and security chief Mohsen Rezaei.
The messages he received reflected the competing currents shaping Tehran’s response to the diplomatic push.
Pezeshkian praised efforts by Qatar, Pakistan, Oman and other countries to promote peace and security in the region. He also pointed to factions in the United States, Israel and Iran that he said were trying to prevent agreements from taking shape, urging US officials to ignore voices opposed to a return to stability.
Ghalibaf told Al Thani that an economic blockade of Iran would be ineffective and said Washington should implement commitments made under the Islamabad memorandum.
Rezaei struck a more confrontational tone, warning that Iran would target US military and economic interests if Washington sought to “commit mischief” against Iran. He reiterated that the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed unless the United States met Tehran’s conditions.
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said Al Thani discussed regional developments, efforts to reduce tensions and creating conditions for the resumption of dialogue between Tehran and Washington.
Mediators push for talks
The flurry of diplomatic activity has fueled speculation in Iranian media that Tehran and Washington could return to negotiations, although there is little indication that a breakthrough is imminent.
Iran Nuances, an English-language outlet apparently linked to Iran’s Foreign Ministry, argued that the succession of visits reflected concern among regional states that intensified economic pressure could produce wider instability rather than force Iran to capitulate.
The Iranian news agency ILNA was more cautious. In a commentary headlined “Can Qatar Unlock the Negotiations?”, it said the gap between Tehran and Washington remained too wide for Qatar’s mediation to be certain of success.
“If Iran considers lifting economic pressure and ending the blockade a precondition for any opening, while the United States continues to insist on increasing pressure, even activating Qatar’s mediation channels will not necessarily lead to the resumption of negotiations,” it said.
ILNA suggested that Doha could instead begin by mediating over de-escalation and freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, potentially creating an opening for wider negotiations.
Economic daily Donya-ye Eqtesad described the succession of regional visits as a form of “multi-layered diplomacy” aimed at developing a phased roadmap involving Iran, the United States and regional mediators, with maritime arrangements providing an initial route toward de-escalation.
But optimism in parts of the Iranian media contrasts sharply with Washington’s public posture.
US President Donald Trump told Al Jazeera on Wednesday that he was “not in a hurry” to resume negotiations with Iran and had set no timetable for ending the war. He said economic pressure and military action were proving effective.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that there were currently no negotiations between the United States and Iran and that all options remained on the table.
Fate of missing Iranian pilots
Al Thani’s visit also brought renewed attention in Tehran to the fate of Iranian pilots who went missing in March after their Sukhoi fighter jets were shot down over Qatar.
Iranian officials say three pilots survived after ejecting from their aircraft, were captured by Qatari forces and have been held there since.
Qatar strongly rejects that account. Doha says its search-and-rescue teams found the remains of one pilot and handed them to Iran, but that it has no information about the fate of the others.
Iran has requested that an Iranian Air Force expert team and the International Committee of the Red Cross become involved in determining their fate.
Iranian army spokesman Mohammad Akraminia said Wednesday that if Qatar genuinely did not know what had happened to the pilots, it should make greater efforts to establish their whereabouts.
Fada-Hossein Maleki, a member of parliament’s National Security Commission, said Thursday that the lack of clarity over the pilots remained a source of tension with Doha and warned that any evidence they had been mistreated would affect bilateral relations.
Hardliners also seized on the issue during Al Thani’s visit, accusing Iranian officials of failing to press Qatar publicly over the pilots’ fate.
The US president told Al Jazeera he had set no deadline for ending a conflict now in its seventh month.
"I have no time schedule, none," he said, calling economic warfare and military strikes against Iran "both effective."
His remarks followed Monday's launch of Operation Economic Outcast, a Treasury campaign that named nearly 60 Iran-linked individuals, entities and vessels and widened the threat of secondary sanctions against anyone still doing business with Tehran.
Iran points to economic toll
Iranian officials are now describing the pressure in language they avoided for months.
President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran was facing "the worst conditions of an economic war." Executive Vice President Mohammad Jafar Ghaempanah said domestic gasoline production was insufficient and the US naval blockade was preventing imports.
“Continuing on this path is impossible,” Ghaempanah said.
Tehran is fighting the campaign diplomatically as well. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called on the United Nations to condemn Operation Economic Outcast as "economic terrorism," saying its purpose was to sever Iran's lawful economic ties through secondary sanctions and exclusion from the US financial system.
The confrontation has also pulled in Beijing. China said on Tuesday that its economic cooperation with Iran was conducted within international law and should not be disrupted, rejecting what it called illegal unilateral sanctions.
Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf welcomed that position, saying Iran-China ties "need no one's permission."
Hormuz remains the leverage
While conceding the economic damage, it also showed no sign of softening its position on the Strait of Hormuz.
Revolutionary Guards spokesperson Hossein Mohebi said Iran and Oman had reached understandings on their respective shares of the strait's waters and revenues after about a month of talks.
That went further than the joint Iranian-Omani statement issued on Tuesday, which announced an interim framework for a temporary shipping corridor and joint mine-clearing but said nothing about revenues. A senior Iranian source told Reuters on Wednesday that no final agreement had been reached.
The effect on shipping was visible the same day. An Indian tanker attempting the southern route through the strait turned back after an Iranian warning, according to the Revolutionary Guards-affiliated Fars news agency, which said the route had carried no traffic in the previous 24 hours.
Mohebi set the price plainly. "If the United States stops obstructing and returns to the memorandum, we can reopen the Strait of Hormuz within the framework of the understanding reached," he said. Otherwise, he said, it stays closed.
Diplomacy continues in parallel
Regional governments are still working to keep a route open.
Qatar's prime minister and foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, travels to Tehran on Thursday for talks on reducing tensions and creating conditions for dialogue.
Qatar said the discussions would cover freedom of navigation in the strait and efforts to restore the conditions that prevailed before February 28, when the 40-day war began.
Washington continues to describe a negotiated outcome as preferable even while expanding the economic campaign.
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Wednesday that the administration's "strong desire" was to end Iran's nuclear program through negotiations and inspections administered by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
"Our number one objective is they will not possess nuclear weapons," Wright said. "If we can do it through negotiation and inspections, that is absolutely the desired way."
He added that Washington was prepared to destroy Iran's nuclear facilities and industrial capacity by military means if necessary.
