QATAR PERSPECTIVE

Doha is proposing the crisis exit that few others dare to suggest: a regional agreement on the Strait of Hormuz. Al Jazeera publishes an opinion piece calling for a multilateral framework that would lift the strait out of the bilateral US-Iran standoff and establish it as a shared regional asset. Meanwhile, Al Jazeera covers the US demining operation — two Navy vessels transiting the strait — by placing the word 'transited' in quotation marks, signalling editorial distance from Pentagon communications. Qatar, a small emirate sitting atop the world's third-largest natural gas reserves and bordering the Persian Gulf, has vital interests in Hormuz stability. Its coverage reflects a diplomatic ambition: transforming the crisis into an opportunity for a regional agreement that would give Gulf states a seat at the table rather than having decisions imposed by Washington and Tehran.