Must read piece on how a month-long diplomatic effort involving the United States, Iran, Qatar and Pakistan led to US Iran MoU, arguing that Qatar played a key role in keeping the process on track. Article argues that Qatar’s involvement intensified in mid-May after negotiations stalled. The article notes that a Qatari delegation led by HE Ali Al Thawadi, Minister at the Prime Minister's Office for Strategic Affairs, and Hamad al-Kubaisi secretly travelled to Tehran, while Qatar worked closely with Pakistan, Egypt and Türkiye. The report notes that Qatar leveraged its experience as a diplomatic intermediary between Washington and adversaries such as Hamas, the Taliban and Venezuela. One Western diplomat is quoted as saying: “The Pakistanis were well briefed and the face of the process [...] but the Qataris quietly did most of the heavy lifting to bridge the two sides”. Pakistani and Arab diplomats, HH the Amir, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, UAE’ President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan and Pakistan’s military chief all put in calls to President Trump to urge him against more attacks. Qataris threatened to walk away after the Iranians continued to push for tweaks to the language. Throughout the process Ghalibaf Araghchi continued discussions with mediators, while lower-level US and Iranian officials held talks in Doha. ft.com/content/adb68e67-3d04…