Why Qatar stepped up to play peacemaker, even as Iran aimed its missiles over Doha

Jerusalem: Before midnight on Monday, Qatari officials convened a group of journalists in a purple meeting room to protest against a missile barrage from Iran that had targeted a large US military installation in the desert outside the Qatari capital, Doha.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari declared that his country had the right to respond to the attack a few hours earlier. At the same time, he called for de-escalating the new war between Israel and Iran and for ceasefire negotiations.

Iranian missiles seen over Doha, Qatar.Credit: Getty Images

But it seems that Qatar had already begun to help broker a truce, engaging quietly with Israel’s American allies and with the Iranian government behind the scenes.

“What happened shows Qatar can take a hit but be pragmatic,” said Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa Program at Chatham House.

After the United States intervened on the side of Israel and bombed Iranian nuclear sites on Sunday morning, Iran responded by attacking the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.

Trump speaking with Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad al Thani (left) and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani (right) as he leaves Al Udeid Air Base in May.Credit: Getty Images

Qatar knew in advance that an attack on the base was planned, and almost all missiles fired at the site were intercepted, according to Major General Shayeq Misfer al-Hajri, the Qatari deputy chief of staff for joint operations.

On Tuesday, the Qatari Foreign Ministry summoned the Iranian ambassador in Doha but did not announce any punitive measures against Iran.

The Qatari government’s swift shift from defending its right to respond to playing mediator suggested an element of “choreography,” said Nicholas Hopton, who was Britain’s ambassador to Qatar from 2013 to 2015.

As Qatar and the other Persian Gulf nations watched the Israel-Iran War unfold over the past two weeks, they worried that an escalation could result in Iran targeting their strategic energy resources, undermining a critical source of their revenue.

If the Iranian government was set on targeting American soldiers in the Gulf, it may have viewed the base in Qatar as less likely to provoke an escalation or damage its relations with some other Gulf Arab countries, which had been warming in recent years.

The wealthy emirate of Qatar has generally maintained closer ties with Iran than most of the other Persian Gulf countries. It has also played a leading role in mediating between Israel and Hamas, the Iran-backed Palestinian militant group, since the war in the Gaza Strip began in October 2023.

If Iran had attacked another Persian Gulf nation, it might have run into more complicated territory.

The headquarters of the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, in Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia’s oil installations could also have become targets. But Iran’s diplomatic relations with these two other Persian Gulf nations are still new and relatively shaky.

The United Arab Emirates is one of Iran’s largest trading partners, offering Iran a vital link to the global economy as it navigates long-standing Western sanctions. The prospect of missiles flying over Dubai, a glitzy metropolis in the UAE, would have alienated a neighbour that Iran depends on.

Qatari officials intervened with Iran on behalf of the Trump administration, according to three diplomats briefed on the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy.

They said that Trump had told the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, that Israel had signed off on a US ceasefire proposal.

The president had asked Qatar to help bring Iran on board, the diplomats said. The Qatari prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, then persuaded Iran to agree to the truce proposal by late Monday in a call with the Iranian leadership, the diplomats said.

A senior White House official, who requested anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the negotiations publicly, said the Qatari emir played a role in the ceasefire discussions.

The truce took effect early Tuesday morning and appeared to be holding as evening approached.

Qatar’s handling of the crisis illustrated the value the wealthy Persian Gulf emirate puts in its relationship with the United States, said Hopton, the former British diplomat.

“Trump wanted a de-escalation, and Qatar was able to help him with that,” Hopton said.

A pillar of Qatar’s foreign policy is to maintain a close relationship with the United States, and Qatari officials frequently take advantage of opportunities to prove to the US government that they can be a strategic ally on important US foreign policy objectives.

With a small army, Qatar relies on the United States to provide it with a security blanket. Saudi Arabia and the UAE, powerful neighbouring countries, have occasionally taken hostile positions against Qatar.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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