The decisive mediator.. How did Qatar lead the marathon of the last hours to end the war between Washington and Tehran? | policy

At dawn on Monday, June 15, a memorandum of understanding was unveiled that put an end to the war drums being beaten between Tehran and Washington.

Although the path began with persistent Pakistani efforts, the Qatari role emerged as a “decisive mediator” who was able to cross the political minefields and bring the two parties to the final formula at the most delicate and complex moments.

After the Pakistani mediation faced escalating tensions, widening discrepancies, and the tone of escalation on both sides, Qatar was a powerful diplomatic player who began to move in more than one direction, both publicly and behind the scenes.

Officials in the Trump administration describe Qatar as the decisive mediator who was able to bring the two parties closer together at the most delicate moments, as the Qatari delegation, on the eve of the announcement of a memorandum of understanding, spent 17 hours of intense negotiations and communications in Tehran to reach the final formula.

Today, Sunday, US Vice President J.D. Vance, during a press conference on the sidelines of the talks between Washington and Tehran, praised the Qatari role in mediating between them, and said that the role of the Qatari Prime Minister was crucial to reaching this moment.

Doha’s entry into the crisis line was not random, but rather came according to a solid strategic vision. Initially, Qatar chose to distance itself as long as its territory was vulnerable to Iranian bombing, preferring not to be a mediator under pressure.

But by mid-May, a fundamental shift occurred; When US President Donald Trump announced his retreat from the option of a military attack in response to efforts led by the Emir of Qatar in cooperation with the leaders of the region (the Saudi Crown Prince and the President of the Emirates), which opened the door wide for Qatari diplomacy to move in a more confident space.

The Qatari role increased in importance in the period between last March and May, when the Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani visited Washington twice, where he discussed the repercussions of the war in the region and ways to reach an agreement with Iran.

In late May, a high-level Iranian delegation arrived in Doha, which included the Speaker of Parliament, the chief negotiator, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Governor of the Central Bank of Iran, and among what was discussed were confidence-building measures between Tehran and Washington.

Exceptional mediation

Although the Pakistani negotiations preceded the Qatari mediation in a major attempt represented by direct talks between Washington and Tehran, which were the highest since 1979, a high-ranking Iranian delegation, led by Muhammad Baqir Qalibaf and Abbas Araqchi, sat at one table in front of an exceptional American delegation headed by the Vice President and including Jared Kushner and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.

However, these discussions, which were held in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, on April 11 and 12, ended without an agreement, despite continuing for more than 20 hours. On the contrary, Washington began a naval blockade of Iranian ports on the next day of the talks.

After the expiry of the first truce, Trump announced on the evening of April 22 the extension of the ceasefire indefinitely, announcing preparations for a new round of negotiations in Islamabad.

But after persistent efforts, all attempts to bring the American and Iranian delegations to one table again failed, and then the Pakistani role moved from publicly hosting the talks to managing back channels.

This movement appeared at the beginning of last May through visits and communications by Army Commander Asem Munir and Interior Minister Mohsen Naqvi to Tehran, which were met with repeated visits by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi to Islamabad.

The Pakistani movement was accompanied by American pressure to force Iran to respond to Washington’s demands on two main issues: the nuclear program and the Lebanon front, which were among the nodes that prevented any breakthrough.

In the final stage between June 10 and 14, the Qatari delegation in Tehran took on the task of engineering the details, as the intense discussions focused on the files that were obstructing the final understanding, most notably: the frozen Iranian funds, regional security arrangements, and the future of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. Thanks to this diplomatic weight, the sharp differences turned into a memorandum of understanding that ended one of the most dangerous chapters of escalation in the region.