Qatar’s foreign minister said on Wednesday that he is pushing for the US and Iran to return to the 2015 nuclear deal to de-escalate tensions in the region.
“The State of Qatar is working on de-escalation through a political and diplomatic process to return to the nuclear agreement,” Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said, according to Qatari state media.
The comments came after Thani spoke with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Robert Malley, President Biden’s special envoy for Iran. Thani said Qatar was communicating with both Washington and Tehran on easing tensions.
On Thursday, Thani met with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in Doha. Cavusoglu shared Thani’s view on a revival of the JCPOA and said both Turkey and Qatar could contribute to de-escalating tensions.
Other regional countries, like Saudi Arabia and Israel, are opposed to the JCPOA and are looking to get in on nuclear negotiations with Iran. But Iranian officials have been clear that they want the deal they negotiated in 2015 and have no interest in a new agreement with more countries at this time.
So far, Washington and Tehran are far apart on reviving the deal. The Biden administration has been demanding that Iran scale back its civilian nuclear program to comply with limits set by the JCPOA before the US lifts sanctions. But since the US is the party that violated the deal, Tehran is calling on President Biden to act first.
Several years ago an insider defined for me the standard US policy with regards to oil-rich countries in the Middle east as follows.
Make sure that the rulers of these countries are predictable with regards to their policies for foreign oil companies which have a stake in their country. If necessary try to have them removed by a military coup (Qaddafi!).
Do whatever is needed to keep the price of crude as high as possible and rising with inflation.
Sugarcoat your policy with meaningless vows to promote democracy.
that would be the midcentury oil man version. things have changed a bit since then.
Another spect of the US -Saudi deal regarding oil, is that they must sell their exports exclusively for US dollars, that must then be invested in the US stock market and/or purchases of US military hardware.
The South Pars/North Dome field is a natural-gas condensate field located in the Persian Gulf. It is by far the world’s largest natural gas field, with ownership of the field shared between Iran and Qatar.