Qatar, the main mediator in the U.S.-Iran conflict, is seeking to persuade Tehran to allow U.N. nuclear weapons inspectors to visit bombed Iranian nuclear sites, including those housing the country’s stockpiles of highly enriched uranium.
Iran would not be required to commit to having its stockpiles removed from the country, with other options being considered, including reducing uranium content by down-blending.
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, the Emir of Qatar, spoke to Donald Trump about this proposal, the Emir’s office said Friday without revealing the content of the call.
The official news agency said the emir “stressed the importance of continuing dialogue and adopting diplomacy as a means of resolving disputes, thereby preventing further escalation in the region.”
Trump is still weighing whether to launch another attack on Iran’s nuclear sites, although the credibility of his threats is lower in Iran after his vice president, JD Vance, said the war itself, not just its cost to American consumers, was key to the collapse of the Republican vote in the US midterms.
Under Qatar’s proposal, the US would immediately lift the naval blockade on Iran in the Strait of Hormuz and release part of its $8bn (£6bn) frozen assets. In return, Iran would agree to have International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors visit its bombed nuclear facilities, based on a previous abandoned deal reached in Cairo in September 2025.
Iran would open the Strait of Hormuz on the second day, via a route already negotiated with Oman and which they would file jointly with the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
Iran has many other preconditions for opening the strait, including an end to the war in Lebanon, the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iran’s coastline, a commitment to lift some economic sanctions and an agreement on paying war reparations. The sequence of these commitments was at the heart of the mediation.
In the memorandum of understanding, a $300 billion reconstruction and development fund was to be created to help Iran recover economically, but it was never made clear how this proposal was to be financed.
Iran, in a triumphalist mood after Trump’s election failure, is reluctant to allow UN nuclear inspectors back into the country, saying it has lost confidence in Rafael Grossi, the inspection chief.
Tehran says Grossi betrayed his duty to uphold the nuclear non-proliferation treaty by failing to criticize the United States for bombing Iran’s nuclear sites. He fears that the information collected by the inspectors could be transmitted as targeting data to the Americans and Israelis.
During the parallel negotiations on the opening of the strait, Oman Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi again spoke to Iran about the future of the administration of the strait, including the agreed route, the extent to which the agreement is temporary and the need to register the proposal with the IMO, either as a bilateral agreement or as a joint regional proposal.
Oman has a long-term proposal for a law-of-the-sea administration of the strait, in which shipping companies would only be charged for services, not tolls.
Amir Hayat Moqaddam, deputy chairman of the Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee, told the Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA) on Tuesday that ships from four countries – China, India, Qatar and Iraq – were allowed to use the strategic waterway.
The exemptions serve mutual interests, he said, adding that Iran charges Indian and Chinese ships transit fees while allowing Qatari ships to pass for free. The medicines came from India, while China provided political support.
It is reported that of the 10.23 million barrels per day of Gulf crude that passed through the strait in October, about 42% was destined for China and 13% for India, said Muyu Xu, senior crude oil analyst at analytics firm Kpler.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) navy said two “infringing” oil tankers attempting to pass through an unauthorized route in the eastern sector of the Strait of Hormuz collided with mines and caught fire.
The IRGC said the two tankers had turned off their navigation and identification systems and that the attempted crossing took place with the support of U.S. military forces.
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