Qatar urges US, Iran to resume talks after flare-up
Mediator Qatar on Tuesday urged the United States and Iran to return to negotiations after they renewed tit-for-tat attacks.
On Sunday, the U.S. carried out strikes on an Iranian island in the Strait of Hormuz, with Tehran quickly retaliating by attacking U.S. military targets in the Middle East.
After six months of war, the foes remain at an impasse, with Iran disrupting traffic in the strategic Strait of Hormuz with its blockade and the US persisting with a counter-blockade of Iranian ports.
"We have said from day one that leaving the issue unresolved and trying to normalize the closure of the Strait would lead to escalation," Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari told a regular press briefing.
"This is precisely what we have witnessed over the past two days," he said.
"We urge the parties to exercise wisdom and return to the negotiating path, and we continue to intensify our efforts with our mediation partners to ensure a return to that path."
Earlier on Tuesday, Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran would "immediately" reciprocate if the United States returned to a June deal aimed at ending their war.
"In Qatar, in the region, in the world today, we cannot afford to accept the status quo," Al Ansari said.
"Discussions with our mediation partners -- whether in Pakistan or Oman -- are ongoing," he added.
Last week, Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani travelled to Tehran as part of the mediation efforts, after Iran and Oman, which border the key strait, said they were discussing a temporary shipping corridor and the clearance of mines.
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543 GMT: “The strikes follow recent attempted attacks by the IRGC against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and against American service members deployed to the region,” CENTCOM said.
Iran has previously responded to similar US attacks, so the strikes risk sparking a new cycle of fighting.
Iranian semiofficial news agency Tasnim reported explosions in the south of the country, including in Konarak, Bandar Abbas and Qeshm Island.
US President Donald Trump said the strikes on Tuesday were “large and powerful” and warned Iran against responding.
“If the failed Nation of Iran retaliates for this very justified attack, they will be hit again at a much harder and higher level, but it will not be the biggest attack of them all, that is waiting in the wings and, when it is over, there will be very little left of the Islamic Republic of Iran!” Trump said in a social media post. Al Jazeera, which shows Pezeshkian chatting with Putin two hours before US attacks.
