Mediation remains backbone of Qatar’s foreign policy: Al-Khulaifi

Doha, Qatar: Minister of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs H E Dr. Mohammed bin Abdulaziz bin Saleh Al Khulaifi has underscored that mediation...

Doha, Qatar: Minister of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs H E Dr. Mohammed bin Abdulaziz bin Saleh Al-Khulaifi has underscored that mediation remains the backbone of Qatar’s foreign policy.

In a high-level fireside chat with NBC’s Richard Engel on the second day of the Global Security Forum 2025, in Doha yesterday, he highlighted Qatar’s commitment to building trusted relationships across Latin America, Africa, and Europe, conveying that today’s borderless conflicts require early engagement, collective solutions, and an enduring sense of hope to sustain pathways to peace. “We have more than 25 years of experience in the field of mediation. Qatar is taking mediation very seriously. It is the backbone of our foreign policy. We have been mediators for several cases around the globe,” said Al-Khulaifi.

He said that in the last seven to 10 years, Qatar has been known for it reach out to countries far away geographically from the State of Qatar, contributions to Africa, to Latin America, to Europe.

“When it comes to the Ukraine-Russia conflict, to Asia, we have stretched our reach out to include other countries globally that would need trusted mediators and reliable international partners that can provide hands of help and support to bridge the gap between the two sides,” he said.

On Iran, he said: “Qatar has been dealing with Iran for years based on mutual respect, but also transparency when it comes to our discussions and dialogue with them. We always consider ourselves advocates for dialogue.” He said Qatar favours direct negotiation as a means to resolve conflicts. “Therefore, we’re always going to encourage that pathway and we have commended the efforts made by our neighbours in Oman to start the negotiations between Iran and the United States.