Diplomacy & Geopolitics
Qatar urges US and Iran to resume talks after attacks
Qatar urged the United States and Iran on Tuesday to return to negotiations after renewed attacks between the two sides, while Iran's president said Tehran would respond if Washington returned to a June deal aimed at ending their war.
Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari said Doha had warned from the start that leaving the dispute unresolved and treating the closure of the Strait of Hormuz as normal would lead to escalation.
“We urge the parties to exercise wisdom and return to the negotiating path,” Al Ansari told a regular briefing. He said Qatar was intensifying efforts with mediation partners and that discussions with Pakistan and Oman were continuing.
The call followed US strikes on an Iranian island in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday and Iranian attacks on US military targets in the Middle East. After six months of war, Iran continues to disrupt traffic in the strategic waterway, while the United States maintains a counter-blockade of Iranian ports.
Earlier Tuesday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran would “immediately” take reciprocal action if the United States returned to the June deal. The deal was intended to prepare the ground for final peace talks, but it collapsed after both sides accused each other of violating its terms.
Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani travelled to Tehran last week as part of mediation efforts. Iran and Oman, which border the Strait of Hormuz, have said they are discussing a temporary shipping corridor and mine clearance.
Update
Qatar urged the United States and Iran to return to negotiations after renewed attacks.
Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari said Doha was intensifying efforts with mediation partners.
Al Ansari said discussions with partners including Pakistan and Oman were ongoing.
Qatar said normalising the closure of the Strait of Hormuz would lead to escalation.
Source note: AFP news report published on 1 September 2026 at 11:44:55 UTC.
Update
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Kyrgyzstan.
Putin met Chinese President Xi Jinping at the summit on Monday.
Xi said Russia-China ties had become more solid, while Putin said cooperation was developing on all fronts.
Putin told the summit that regional multilateral structures were becoming part of what he called a multipolar world alongside the United Nations.
Source note: AFP news report published on 1 September 2026 at 11:13:09 UTC.
Update
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran would “immediately” take reciprocal action if the United States returned to its commitments under the June memorandum.
Tehran says it would open the Strait of Hormuz only if Washington lifted its naval blockade on Iranian ports, removed oil sanctions and unfroze Iranian assets abroad under the deal.
The source says the United States and Iran resumed exchanging fire on Monday after more than a month of relative calm.
Source note: AFP news report published on 1 September 2026 at 10:31:31 UTC.
Update
Masoud Pezeshkian said at a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Kyrgyzstan that a US return to pressure and threats could derail diplomacy.
Pezeshkian accused the United States of repeated violations of commitments under the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding.
Source note: AFP news report published on 1 September 2026 at 10:22:45 UTC.
Update
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said US pressure and threats were derailing diplomacy.
Source note: AFP news report published on 1 September 2026 at 10:00:50 UTC.
Update
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian made the comments before planned talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Kyrgyzstan.
Iran and the United States resumed exchanging fire on Monday after more than a month of relative calm, according to the supplied material.
Pezeshkian said Iran would take reciprocal action if the United States returned to its commitments under the memorandum of understanding.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also urged the United States on Monday to return to its commitments.
Russian President Vladimir Putin met Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday at the SCO summit.
Source note: AFP news report published on 1 September 2026 at 07:24:48 UTC.
Update
Iran's president said Tehran would immediately reciprocate if the United States returned to the June deal.
Source note: AFP news report published on 1 September 2026 at 05:55:04 UTC.
Update
US Senator Jack Reed criticised President Donald Trump over the war, saying that six months later “not a single objective has been achieved.”
Washington has declared “economic warfare” against Tehran and an “economic D-Day,” according to the AFP account.
AFP reported analysts remain sceptical about how much more pressure Washington can apply because isolating Iran would likely require cooperation from China.
Source note: AFP news report published on 28 August 2026 at 17:17:36 UTC.
Update
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met his Qatari counterpart in Tehran on Thursday to discuss the Strait of Hormuz.
The meeting came at the end of a week of Iranian talks with Oman and Pakistan.
Iranian lawmaker Esmail Kowsari said Hormuz would remain closed if the June memorandum was not implemented and warned of Iranian offensive actions.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said no one was above the reach of US sanctions when asked about Chinese banks doing business with Iran.
China has defended its cooperation with Tehran and vowed to safeguard its interests.
Source note: AFP news report published on 28 August 2026 at 09:17:09 UTC.
Uncertainty notes
The item does not establish whether the United States or Iran will return to negotiations.
The status and details of the proposed temporary shipping corridor remain under discussion.
Source
AFP news report published on .