Ex-Qatari PM: Direct Iran talks needed, Gulf must stand firm on Saudi security

Sheikh Hamad has called for Gulf states to use Monday’s planned meeting with Iran to establish a new framework for relations with Tehran, focused on regional stability, economic cooperation and resolving longstanding disputes. Former Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani has welcomed a planned meeting between the Gulf states and Iran in Oman on Monday, calling for direct and collective dialogue with Tehran amid ongoing regional tensions.Iran announced on Friday that the meeting is expected to bring Iran, Iraq and the Gulf states together, with discussions expected to include regional security and the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran said the talks are intended to prompt greater understanding among countries in the region and strengthen shared regional security.Sheikh Hamad, who served as Qatar’s Prime Minister from 2007 to 2013 and as Foreign Minister from 1992 until 2013, said he has long advocated for GCC states to engage collectively and directly with Iran “in order to find a way out of the crisis we have been placed in, despite having had no role in creating it from the outset.”“I wish success for the proposed meeting to be held on Monday in Muscat between the Gulf Cooperation Council states and Iran,” Sheikh Hamad said in a post on X.“I also hope that the discussions will focus on ways to resolve the existing problems first before presenting any offers, and on laying out a roadmap for our relations with Iran in the future that ensures stability for both them and us.”A vision beyond the crisisHis latest remarks focused not only on the immediate crisis, but on what a longer-term relationship between the two sides could look like. Central to that vision is greater economic integration: Sheikh Hamad renewed his proposal to turn the Gulf basin into what he described as an “important economic lake,” based on exchanging benefits and serving common interests — including removing customs duties on exports between Iran and GCC states.He said any progress on these fronts would mark “the first steps towards demonstrating good faith on both sides,” and stressed that talks should be built on clear principles aimed at lasting solutions rather than temporary fixes, warning that “temporary solutions and ceasefires do not serve either side; rather, they harm everyone.”The road to Monday’s Muscat meetingMonday’s meeting comes after months of tensions over the Strait of Hormuz — a topic expected to feature prominently, and one of the most consequential issues since the war began in February.Sheikh Hamad said Iran should return the Strait of Hormuz to the conditions that existed before the current crisis, without imposing fees not covered by international law. He also argued that Gulf states should not be made dependent on the course of negotiations between Tehran and Washington.Before the conflict, around 20.9 million barrels of the world’s oil supply passed through the Strait daily. Disruptions to the waterway have since affected commercial shipping and energy markets.Qatar has repeatedly maintained that the Strait should remain open to international navigation. In June, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani said Doha rejected any changeto the Strait’s pre-war status and maintained that it should stay open to international navigation.Diplomatic efforts have continued since then. Iran and Oman have been negotiating arrangements for safe commercial shipping through the Strait, with Iran’s Foreign Ministry saying that Monday’s meeting will also discuss the outcome of those talks.The meeting in Oman could take Monday’s discussions further by bringing Iran and the GCC into the same forum. Since the early months of the war, Sheikh Hamad has repeatedly argued that the Gulf states should engage with Tehran collectively, cautioning against relying on temporary arrangements and arguing instead for discussions with clear objectives aimed at reaching lasting solutions. “When this happens,” he said, “the anticipated meeting in Oman will mark the beginning of putting the steps towards a solution on the right track, before other ideas for the future of relations are put forward.”A call for Gulf solidarity on Saudi ArabiaAlongside his remarks on Iran, Sheikh Hamad also urged GCC states to take a firmer, unified stance on a separate regional threat: the Houthi movement in Yemen, which he said poses a danger to Saudi Arabia’s borders.“Saudi Arabia’s security is important to all GCC countries, regardless of any disagreements between them,” he said, adding that “an attack on Saudi Arabia is an attack on all GCC countries.”He called for this principle to be adopted in practical terms across the bloc — specifically through the reactivation of the Peninsula Shield Forces, now known as the GCC Unified Military Command, to help protect Saudi Arabia’s borders.