Qatari LNG carrier hit by unidentified objects as US-Iran talks run in Doha

Tanker struck in the Gulf

Qatar Gas Transport Company (Nakilat) said on Sunday, 1 November, that its LNG carrier Al Mayeda was hit by "unidentified objects" while sailing in the Gulf on Friday evening, 30 October. The company, which owns the vessel, said no crew members were injured and no environmental damage had been reported. It described the ship as safe and operational and said the consequences of the strike were still being assessed. The statement was published by the Qatar Stock Exchange. MarineTraffic lists the vessel under the flag of the Marshall Islands. The ship was bound for Pakistan and had received direct clearance and safe-passage approval from Tehran only hours earlier. No group had claimed responsibility when the first reports appeared.

A wider campaign against shipping

Oman said it had rescued the 25 crew members of a tanker that was attacked off its coast on Friday and caught fire on board. Iran has reported several tankers ablaze after striking mines in the strait of Hormuz in the days leading up to 1 November. The strait has been at the centre of the conflict between Washington and Tehran since the war began on 28 February, when Israeli and American strikes started it. The Wall Street Journal reported that the US military has for months provided almost continuous air cover to commercial freighters on the southern route through the strait, where Iran has stepped up its attacks on ships.

Mediation in Doha

Indirect talks in Doha entered a third day on Sunday, with Qatar trying to negotiate the release of more than $6bn in Iranian assets. Such a release could lead to Iran reopening the strait of Hormuz and to the restart of talks on Iran's nuclear programme. Qatar's proposal compresses the sequence in which the US lifts sanctions, then Iran reopens the strait and begins nuclear talks. Qatar has focused on overcoming the lack of trust between the sides, and Iran has agreed to cut that timetable from seven days to two. Qatar's mediation continued despite the strike on the Al Mayeda. Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, is not attending the mediation and is due in Turkmenistan on Monday, 2 November, but other Iranian diplomats are heavily involved. Araghchi said he hoped the US would choose "diplomacy over other paths", while adding that there are currently no plans for direct talks with Washington.

Washington and the Gulf states

Trump said on Saturday, 31 October, that the US had knocked out much of Iran's military but still had to "take care of" one or two targets, while Tehran warned of reprisals if attacked. He said negotiations to end the war were going fine but that Iran was not very reliable. Rubio said on the same day that the US was open to a diplomatic solution. Gulf officials are waiting for Washington's answer to an Iranian proposal that could reopen the strait before the US midterm elections on Tuesday, 3 November. UAE envoy Anwar Gargash said another round of escalation was not in the interests of Iran or any of its neighbours, and he said the Emirates were preparing for the worst.

“Relations with Iran are essential, because Iran is our neighbour and we do not want to see it get caught up in a prolonged crisis.”

Gargash framed the Gulf's position as a wish to avoid a prolonged crisis while staying prepared for a worse outcome.