On 26 August, Qatar’s Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman al-Thani expressed Doha’s aspirations for Washington and Tehran to return to the nuclear deal to his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, during a phone conversation.

The two foreign ministers discussed the recent developments of the Vienna talks aimed at reviving Tehran’s nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

The two sides also proceeded to talk about bilateral and regional issues of interest as well as the EU’s newly devised draft proposal.

Iran and the remaining parties to the JCPOA – Russia, China, France, Britain, and Germany – have held several rounds of negotiations in Vienna since April last year to restore the agreement, which was abandoned by the former US President Donald Trump in May 2018 to exert “maximum pressure” on Tehran.

Several rounds of indirect negotiations between the US and Iran have been held in both Vienna and Doha over the past 16 months, but to no avail.

Qatar’s foreign minister continued to stress on the importance of the revival of the agreement, adding that pumping additional quantities of Iranian oil into international markets will help stabilize crude oil prices and drastically reduce inflation.

Al-Thani reiterated Doha’s support for the restoration of the JCPOA, and for frequent regional talks between Iran and their neighbors.

This is the second time in the past two months that the two foreign ministers discuss efforts to restore Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal, the first time being in Tehran on 6 July.

On 24 August, Iranian and US officials confirmed that Washington delivered its response to Tehran on a EU-drafted proposal to revive the JCPOA.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani confirmed the arrival of the US response, saying: “This evening Iran received the US response through the EU. The careful review of the response has started in Tehran.”

“Iran will share its view with the EU, as the coordinator of the nuclear talks, upon completion of Tehran’s review,” Kanaani added.

The announcement set off alarms in Tel Aviv, where Israeli interim Prime Minister Yair Lapid urged western powers to say “enough” and stop negotiations to give Iran sanctions relief.