DOHA — Qatar’s deputy prime minister told a Doha security forum on Monday that the energy damage from the war on Iran is still building, then said his government has never stopped talking to Tehran, whose strikes hit Qatar’s Ras Laffan industrial complex in March.
Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who is also minister of state for defence affairs, spoke at the Global Security Forum. “We haven’t reached the peak with respect to energy,” he said, warning of more disruption to supplies, trade and growth “in the coming days and months.” He gave no number for the peak. Qatar’s government revenue fell 42 percent in the first half, the Emir told the Shura Council last week.
His words carry weight because Qatar is a target of Iran, the host of US forces at Al Udeid air base and one of the go-betweens in the war, with Pakistan and Oman.
The strait is where the shock shows. Kpler figures put Hormuz oil flows at 11.6 million barrels a day in the seven days to October 13, about 68 percent of a 17.1 million barrel pre-war baseline, Al Jazeera reported. Brent touched $110 on Friday for the first time since May. The same report said UKMTO counted at least 12 ships attacked in the week to October 16 but that most attacked vessels refuse to report, so the tally is incomplete. Neither the baseline nor Kpler’s method was explained.
He rejected tolls. “Transit fees should not be applied,” he said, arguing that uncertainty over the waterway would ultimately reach consumers worldwide, according to Al Jazeera. The report did not say who he expects to levy them. TEH reported in July that the Hormuz toll was left unresolved after the Doha talks.
Asked about the Ras Laffan strikes, he said “We were surprised,” and that Qatar has since drawn lessons to protect “all of our assets.” Al Jazeera said repairs are expected to take years. The damage already reaches past gas, as TEH reported with helium rationing at a Chicago lab while Qatar’s supply stays stuck.
Even so, “We never stop our communication,” he said, describing contact with Iran at different levels and a pre-attack relationship built on trust and a shared offshore gasfield. A lasting settlement, he said, needs wider talks among Gulf states, Pakistan and Turkey. “Iran is our neighbour. We need to find ways to live with them.” The GCC ministerial communiqué TEH reported on Sunday also held Iran responsible while asking for a Gulf seat at any US-Iran talks.
“Mediation doesn’t mean that we should not be ready for any defensive action from our side,” he said, crediting decades of shared work with Washington for preventing “more than 90 percent” of attacks. The report did not say who counted them. “Soon we’re going to announce a new partnership,” he added, naming no partners and no date.
