DUBAI—Efforts to rekindle talks to end the war between the U.S. and Iran are running into resistance from major Persian Gulf oil producers that have swung against any accommodation of Tehran, people familiar with the matter said.
Mediators including Qatar are pressing for a fresh round of talks in Oman as soon as next week to try to get Washington and Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and start the process of winding down the war. Gulf countries generally agree that Trump shouldn’t escalate militarily against Iran. But oil kingpin Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are lobbying the Trump administration to keep up the economic pressure on Iran and not agree to concessions that would ease sanctions or the U.S. The pressure from the Gulf is adding to a host of other impediments to a deal. “These are the costs and consequences of Iran overplaying its hand. Qatar has been working around the United Nations General Assembly to restart talks between Iran and the U.S.
President Trump said Tuesday he believed the two sides would meet again soon. Navy blockade, the people said. They include Trump’s own inclination to maintain the blockade, concerns in Tehran that any talks would just be a delaying action for the U.S. to get past the midterm elections before returning to the attack, and an increasingly belligerent tone from Iranian hard-liners as U.S. economic pressure bites down harder, the people said. “There may be no greater force pushing the GCC to conform with U.S. sanctions than the regime reactivating the Houthi threat to their south after months of having blocked shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,” said Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of the Iran program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington think tank, referring to the Gulf states. A White House official said the sanctions and blockade had left the U.S. in a strong position with Iran. “While President Trump is open to talking with Iran under the right circumstances, he has no need to negotiate with the Iranians,” the official said.
Iran’s foreign minister landed in Doha on Sunday to discuss new proposals including a seven-day pause in fighting that could pave the way to end Iran’s attacks on shipping in exchange for the U.S. lifting its blockade, people familiar with the matter said.
