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Iran this morning says it has sent new conditions to potentially restart negotiations with The US via Qatar. The Gulf nation, of course, has in recent years emerged as a key mediator for regional and global conflict. So joining us now is a man very familiar with his diplomatic dance, doctor Majid Al Ansari. He's the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and, of course, a senior adviser to the prime minister.

It's very nice to see you again. Always a pleasure, Krizner. Sorry to start off with some breaking news, but I am wondering, have you received this, opening from Iran? Is there anything you can say about it? And just to kinda update us where negotiations are, if there is anything to update on. Yes. I mean, Christina, as you know, for the past couple of weeks now, we've been going back and forth over different ideas to restart the the talks since the return of hostilities to to the region.

We've been working together through our mediator team with both Tehran and and The US to see if we can get it restarted again. A lot of ideas have been thrown back and forth. This is just one iteration of these documents going back and forth, and we're trying to bridge the gap and find the right moment to to move forward. So we're hoping that this could lead to other documents and other ideas that could actually develop discussion even more.

But as we are speaking right now, our mediators are shuttling between different capitals in the hopes of developing that unit. As we look forward, let's look back as well. And I think there's a lot of conversation surrounding that memo of understanding that it fell apart. In hindsight, did it come together too quickly? Was there not adequate buy in from both parties, both The US and and Iran? What would you like to see done differently this time around as these negotiations continue?

Well, first of all, it cannot come fast enough. Right? I mean, we're trying to get the world working again. The the block of the state of for us has affected families everywhere around the world when it comes to energy prices, reduced yields of crops around the world, especially in more needy communities. The lack of helium and urea is affecting food security, affecting technologies around the world. Not to say, you know, more about the energy, of course, issue around this.

So we're working very on a on a on a timeline that does not exist. Right? We're working to make sure On a negative timeline, basically. Working to make sure that we get back to normalcy as soon as as possible. The MOU, we believed in it. We believed in what it accomplished, but the important thing is we believe that that also the moment where the ceasefire could lead to the environment that could be conducive to peace.

And this is what we our priorities were said very clearly when we signed the MOU, and they're they're still the same priorities. Open the state, stop the war. These are the main two objectives of everything that we're doing right now to make sure that we don't have a return to hostilities because all of us in the region and beyond suffer from this hostility and that the state is open and international economy can go back to normalcy again.

Given what you just said, you're waiting for the world to turn back on. Would you like to see or is there not enough buy in from major global powers from The US, Russia, China? Given how this is impacting all these major economies, why aren't they weighing in heavier to stop this conflict? You know, I think we've heard statements on the record from various administration officials who have confirmed that The US wants a deal.

The US wants a solution to this war, a solution that would provide peace and prosperity for the people of the region and and beyond and to end this conflict once and as well. The world has too many frozen conflicts, and this was one of them. And we need to see a regional solution, first of all, that would offer regional stability, but also an international understanding that would protect waterways like the Strait Of Haworth because this is this will not be the, you know, the the end goal when it comes to these kind of crises.

The Strait Of Haworth is not the only state. Already, El Mandeb is is in play. We know that there are other waterways that are in question around the world for various conflicts and various reasons. And therefore, we need to make sure that this ends in a sustainable way, and it ends in a way that there is a regional understanding that so that it could sustain the peace that comes out of it. Of course, we are engaging as you know, our prime minister was in China just before coming here to The US.

We're engaging with all the great powers around the world. We're engaging with our partners in the region and beyond to make sure that there's an international understanding of what this crisis is and how we can get to the the end goal and how we can see it. I wanna get a a kind of nuanced understanding of the world that we're hoping to go back to hear from from you. So we've heard from the president of The United States, there can't be a toll on this trade.

It can't be controlled by one nation or several nations, Oman, Iran, whomever. Is that Qatar's positions as well that you you don't wanna have any kind of toll levied on ships passing in there going forward, or is that something that could be negotiated around and that you would be amenable to? Listen. It's a dangerous precedent for all of us if these kind of natural occurring waterways become the subject of sovereignty and become weaponized in the way that it has been during this crisis.

No state in the world. If you you know, state of Denmark, state of Dardanhell, the Malacca, state all these states are very important for international trade, very important for international economy, very important for security. And if we see this kind of weaponizing of economy by control over the streets in in this way, this will be replicated all around the world, and we will see this become an international issue that all of us will be suffering from.

We need to nip this in the bud. We need to make sure that it stops here and we get back to to international maritime law, which is that all have access to, to this state, whether the lateral states or or not in accordance with international law. Are you surprised the progression of the Omanis who went from, you know, mediating this nominal peace summit, on behalf kind of of The United States to essentially feeling like they've been played?

And now it seems like it's you know, correct me if I'm wrong, they are willing to go along with a tolling apparatus in the strait with Iran. No. I think the the official statement from Iran was very clear that they they their main objective is to get back to the status quo before the February 28 and that they are working on an interim deal that would open the state as negotiations are are ongoing. And we are closely aligned and closely working with the Omanis and the other regional partners as you know within the GDC and the GDC plus two format to make sure that we all are coordinating with each other and we know exactly, you know, the the the steps each other are are taking.

We as you know, we were hoping that the Salalah meeting would be the moment where we would push this regional understanding further. Complications were in place over there, but we are still continuing these negotiations and talks over regional dialogue and regional stability. So much of the conversations here today are gonna center on Qatar's economy going forward and this effort of diversification. Obviously, natural gas is so important, the devastation of that plant, hugely, critical to to to the the economic prospects of the country.

Talk about the ways in which, Qatar is kind of diversifying in this moment. I know that there was a deal signed between a gas company Qatari gas company in BP in Venezuela, for instance. You're looking at Texas. You're looking at The