What Qatar is offering Tehran
Qatar, which has taken the lead in mediating the US-Iran conflict, is working to persuade Tehran to let United Nations nuclear weapons inspectors visit Iran's bombed nuclear facilities, among them the sites where the country keeps its stockpile of highly enriched uranium. The proposal would not oblige Iran to promise that the stockpile leaves the country; other routes remain available, such as lowering the uranium's enrichment level through down-blending. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, the emir of Qatar, discussed the plan with Donald Trump, his office confirmed on Friday while withholding what was said on the call.[S1]
Qatar's state news agency reported that the emir stressed how vital it is to keep dialogue going and to pursue diplomacy as the way to settle disputes and stop the region sliding into deeper escalation. Trump has not ruled out another strike on Iranian nuclear sites, but his threats carry less weight inside Iran now that Vice-President JD Vance attributed the Republican collapse in the US midterms to the war itself, not merely to what it cost American consumers.[S1]
Blockade, assets and a two-day sequence
Under Doha's proposal, the US would lift its naval blockade of Iran in the Strait of Hormuz right away and unfreeze part of the $8bn in Iranian funds it is holding. In return, Tehran would let International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors into its nuclear sites that were bombed, continuing from a Cairo deal struck in September 2025 that was later dropped. On day two, Iran would reopen the strait along a route already worked out with Oman, and the two states would file it jointly with the International Maritime Organisation.[S1]
Tehran has attached further conditions to reopening the waterway: an end to the war in Lebanon, the withdrawal of US forces from the Iranian coastline, a pledge to ease some economic sanctions and agreement to pay war reparations. The order in which these steps would be carried out has been the central difficulty of the mediation. A memorandum of understanding envisaged a $300bn reconstruction and development fund to help Iran's economy recover, though it was never clear where that money would come from.[S1]
Iran's distrust of the inspectors
Emboldened by Trump's election setback, Iran has been reluctant to readmit UN inspectors, saying it no longer trusts Rafael Grossi, who heads the inspectorate. Tehran argues that Grossi failed in his obligation to uphold the nuclear non-proliferation treaty by not criticising the US bombing of Iranian nuclear sites, and it worries that material the inspectors collect could be passed to the Americans and Israelis as targeting information.[S1]
Oman's parallel track and traffic through the strait
In parallel discussions on the waterway, Omani foreign minister Badr Albusaidi once more discussed with Tehran how the strait would be run going forward — the agreed route, how long the arrangement would last, and the need to lodge the plan with the IMO, whether as a bilateral or a joint regional submission. Oman's longer-term aim is to manage the strait in accordance with the law of the sea, with shipping firms paying only for services and not tolls.[S1]
Amir Hayat Moqaddam, deputy chair of the Iranian parliament's national security and foreign policy committee, told the Iranian Students' News Agency on Tuesday that ships from China, India, Qatar and Iraq were allowed through the strategic waterway. He said the exemptions served shared interests, noting that Iran levied transit fees on Indian and Chinese vessels while allowing Qatari ships to pass free; medicine was sourced from India and political support from China. Muyu Xu, a senior crude oil analyst at Kpler, said about 42% of the 10.23m barrels a day of Gulf crude crossing the strait in October went to China and 13% to India.[S1]
The navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said two oil tankers it described as violating the rules had tried to cross an unauthorised route in the eastern part of the strait, struck mines and caught fire. According to the IRGC, both vessels had switched off their navigation and identification systems and made the attempt with backing from US military forces.[S1]
