(This May 21 story was corrected after Al Jazeera TV corrected translation to “under review” [not “compromise”], headline, paragraph 1.)
(Reuters) – Qatar’s foreign minister said in remarks cited on Saturday by al Jazeera TV that Qatar had been informed by Iran that matters were “under review” regarding reviving a nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.
The Qatari-based TV broadcaster quoted Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani as saying that reaching common ground will boost stability in the Gulf region and help oil markets.
“Pumping additional quantities of Iranian oil to the market will help stabilize crude prices and reduce inflation,” the minister said.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh told Tasnim: “The Supreme Leader …told the Emir of Qatar: ‘We have always said that negotiations should be productive and not a waste of time. The Americans know what to do regarding this.”
“It is clear from the context of the Leader’s remarks that (he meant) that the ball is in the court of the United States, which must make a wise political decision to fulfill its obligations,” Khatibzadeh said.
On Friday, the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani – who met Khamenei during a visit to Iran earlier in May – expressed optimism that an agreement between the United States and Iran could be achieved, voicing readiness to help in the matter.
Iran and the United States have held indirect talks over the past year to revive Tehran’s 2015 nuclear accord with world powers, but the negotiations have stalled.
Tehran has repeatedly said Washington should make a political decision to respect Iran’s “red lines”, which include taking the Revolutionary Guards off a U.S. terrorism blacklist.
(Reporting by Moaz Abd-Alaziz and Gulf bureau; editing by Frances Kerry and Nick Zieminski)
