Qatar, Iran discuss Hormuz corridor as US naval blockade fuels petrol shortage

Iran’s foreign minister met with Qatar’s top diplomat in Tehran on Thursday to discuss a possible framework for the Strait of Hormuz, as a US naval blockade continues to squeeze Iran’s oil imports and fuels a domestic petrol shortage that has left residents queuing at gas stations.

Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who also serves as Qatar’s prime minister, traveled to Tehran for talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. The visit follows a week of intense diplomatic activity in Iran, including separate meetings with Oman’s foreign minister and senior Pakistani officials, all aimed at finding a path to end the wider Middle East conflict and reopen the strait to shipping.

The talks come as Washington threatens to expand secondary sanctions against countries, banks and companies that continue conducting business with Iran, part of a broader American strategy officials have described as economic asphyxiation.

Iranian state television confirmed the meeting between Al Thani and Araghchi without providing further details. Qatar’s foreign ministry said the two officials discussed de escalation efforts along with a proposed framework for Hormuz developed jointly by Iran and Oman. According to the ministry, Al Thani stressed the importance of respecting the sovereignty of neighboring states and preserving freedom of navigation, while continuing to pursue dialogue between the parties.

Qatar, alongside mediator Pakistan, played a central role in brokering an April ceasefire and a subsequent June agreement between Iran and the United States, though both arrangements have since collapsed. The June memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the conflict broke down partly due to disagreements over the narrow waterway separating Iran and Oman, through which roughly one fifth of global oil supplies passed before the war began on February 28.

Since fighting erupted, Iran has maintained strict control over vessel movement through Hormuz, a critical global energy corridor, while the United States has responded with a naval counter blockade targeting Iranian ports. Iran’s Vice President Mohammad Jafar Ghaempanah said Wednesday that the blockade has prevented the country from importing enough petrol to offset shortfalls in domestic production, according to the state news agency IRNA. He said petrol production remains insufficient and that the naval blockade has made imports impossible.

Long lines have formed outside petrol stations across Iran in recent days. Presidential chief of staff Mohsen Haji Mirzaei said petrol quotas would undergo review but offered no further details. Iran, despite ranking among the world’s major oil producers with some of the cheapest fuel prices globally, has subsidized petrol heavily for years, making any pricing changes politically sensitive.

Iranian officials have dismissed the American pressure campaign as a failed approach that will not force Tehran to alter its position. Iran’s top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said in a statement carried by local media that the country is engaged in an all out economic war and expressed confidence that the government would prevail on that front as well. Iran’s economy had already suffered under decades of international sanctions before the current conflict began, compounding long standing problems with inflation and currency weakness.

Iran has spent weeks negotiating with Oman, which also borders the strait, over a framework agreement that would create a temporary shipping corridor and address the clearance of mines that Tehran says were laid during the war. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Wednesday that the two countries had reached agreement on how to divide the waters and any revenue generated from managing the waterway.

Tehran has continued to insist that it will not reopen the strait until Washington meets a set of demands, including lifting the naval blockade, unfreezing Iranian assets held abroad and removing oil related sanctions. Since the conflict began, Iranian forces have required vessels to obtain permission before transiting the waterway and have struck ships that failed to comply. Iran has also sought to impose service fees on vessels using the strait, a move that Washington and regional governments have firmly opposed.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said Thursday that an unidentified projectile struck a tanker in the Hormuz region earlier this week, sparking a fire that was later brought under control.

Qatar’s foreign ministry said discussions between Doha and Tehran have centered on establishing a temporary joint navigational corridor through the strait as part of a broader transitional framework, which would also include coordinated efforts to clear mines from the waterway. During Thursday’s meeting, Al Thani reiterated the need to respect regional sovereignty and freedom of navigation while continuing diplomatic engagement to ease tensions. Araghchi thanked Qatar for its ongoing diplomatic efforts to reduce tensions and support continued dialogue between the parties.

The Strait of Hormuz remains one of the world’s most critical shipping corridors, serving as the primary chokepoint for oil and gas exports flowing out of the Persian Gulf, and the outcome of the current diplomatic push carries significant implications for global energy markets already strained by months of disrupted shipping through the waterway.