DOHA, Qatar — Qatar’s emir spoke by phone with U.S. President Donald Trump to discuss de-escalation and regional security as tensions between Washington and Tehran sharpen, the royal court said Wednesday.
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Trump reviewed “the current situation in the region and international efforts aimed at de-escalation and strengthening regional security and peace,” according to a statement from the emir’s office. The two leaders also discussed “supporting diplomatic efforts aimed at resolving crises through dialogue and peaceful means,” the court said.
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The call came days after Iran and the United States resumed negotiations in Oman on Friday — their first such contact since last June’s 12-day war on Iran by Israel, which involved U.S. military participation, according to the public statements referenced by the parties. The talks in Muscat mark a tentative return to indirect engagement following months of heightened friction.
In a parallel move underscoring stepped-up regional diplomacy, Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, departed for Doha on Wednesday to discuss regional developments, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported.
Larijani’s Doha stop follows high-level meetings in Muscat with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq and Foreign Minister Badr Al-Busaidi as part of what Iranian and Omani readouts described as ongoing regional and international consultations amid the indirect U.S.-Iran negotiations.
Oman News Agency said Larijani and Sultan Haitham “discussed the latest developments in the Iranian-American negotiations.” The agency added the talks explored “ways to reach a balanced and just agreement between the two sides,” and emphasized “the importance of returning to the table of dialogue and negotiation.”
Qatar did not disclose additional details about the emir’s conversation with Trump or any specific initiatives under discussion. The White House has not issued a readout referenced in the statements cited by Gulf counterparts.
Still, the calibrated outreach suggests Gulf capitals are again serving as key venues for shuttle diplomacy and quiet talks, a role they have often played during periods of regional strain. The back-to-back engagements in Muscat and Doha indicate a bid to keep channels open as international actors test whether momentum from the Oman meetings can translate into a broader reduction in risk across the Middle East.
The emir’s office framed Wednesday’s call as aligned with international efforts to steady the region through diplomatic means, language echoed by Oman’s emphasis on “balanced and just” outcomes and a return to negotiations. Whether the parallel tracks consolidate into formal understandings will hinge on follow-up contacts among Washington, Tehran and their interlocutors in the Gulf.
No timeline for further talks was announced. But with high-level envoys on the move and leaders conferring about de-escalation, officials in Doha and Muscat signaled there is at least a shared interest in testing diplomacy before tensions deepen further.
By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
