Qatar PM visits Tehran as Iran-U.S. blame over sanctions pressure

Qatar's prime minister will visit Tehran Thursday to restart diplomacy after the U.S. and Iran traded blame over Washington's plan to increase sanctions pressure on Iran's trade partners. Qatar, a Gulf neighbor of Iran and U.S. ally, has acted as a back-channel negotiator and helped secure a June ceasefire that briefly halted hostilities. The visit comes as the war nears six months with fighting paused but no diplomatic breakthrough, as both sides remain at odds over the Strait of Hormuz. Hormuz oil flows have fallen to a three-month low of 5 million barrels per day, down from roughly 20 million before the war began February 28. Iran's Revolutionary Guards claimed an agreement with Oman on sharing the waterway, but a senior Iranian source said details remain unresolved.