Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi discussed on Sunday regional issues amid ongoing tensions in the region, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said.
The two sides reviewed efforts aimed at achieving peace and enhancing security and stability in the region during their phone call, the ministry said on the US social media company X.
Sheikh Mohammed, who is also foreign minister, expressed Doha’s “full support for mediation efforts aimed at resolving the crisis” between Iran and the US through peaceful means, stressing the need for all parties “to respond positively to these efforts in order to create suitable conditions for progress in negotiations and reduce the chances of renewed escalation.”
Freedom of navigation is a “fundamental principle that is not open to compromise, and that closing the Strait of Hormuz or using it as a pressure tool would only deepen the crisis and expose the vital interests of regional countries to danger,” he told Araghchi.
The Qatari premier called for “adhering to international law and the United Nations Charter,” while putting the interests of the region and its people first in order to strengthen regional and global security, support de-escalation, and ease tensions, the ministry said.
Regional tensions have escalated since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Feb. 28, triggering retaliation from Tehran against Israel as well as US allies in the Gulf, along with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
A ceasefire took effect April 8 through Pakistani mediation, but talks in Islamabad failed to produce a lasting agreement. The truce was later extended by US President Donald Trump without a set deadline, giving way to diplomacy for a permanent solution to the war.