The Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman, Majid Al-Ansari, wrote today in a post that reports claiming Qatar “offered” Iran 12 billion dollars to secure an agreement with the U.S. are “baseless,” and claimed they are spread by parties trying to harm mediation efforts—a hint at Israel.
It should be noted that today reports appeared that Iran is negotiating with Qatar the release of 12 billion dollars as a condition for an agreement with the U.S. (although it is known that Qatar has about 6 billion dollars frozen belonging to Iran).
The Qatari denial should be taken with caution as it seems that something is happening beneath the surface between Qatar and Iran. Yesterday it was reported that two Qatari liquefied natural gas tankers passed through the Strait of Hormuz this week on their way to China and Pakistan.
In other words, quietly Qatar is exporting natural gas with Iranian permission, even if in small quantities. Moreover, past experience shows that Qatar is generally willing to pay for what is important to it, whether for image, economic, security, or propaganda reasons, so it would not be surprising if behind the scenes the Qataris guarantee billions to the Iranians just to renew their exports through Hormuz.
