Share The tiny Persian Gulf country of Qatar has chosen a herculean task for itself: to mediate between the United States and Iran. As Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani put it on Feb. 10, Doha “is working on de-escalation through a political and diplomatic process.” To this end, al-Thani recently spoke to U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and U.S. Special Representative for Iran Robert Malley. Given its size, Qatar might seem a curious choice. Other top contenders to mediate are either diplomatic heavy-hitters, such as Japan or France, or have a long track record in this area, like Oman, which has over recent years hosted multiple rounds of backchannel U.S.-Iran talks. But the Qataris have good reasons to want to do this. An outright conflict between Iran and the U.S. will put Qatar on the frontlines. It is, after all, home to the largest American military base in the Middle East. The Qataris have also had clandestine intelligence relations with their Iranian counterparts, unlike very many other countries. That is a facility that can be of value to both Iran and the U.S.