How about NOT relying on Qatar as an honest US-Iran broker?
Doha certainly has its uses, as it strives to be everyone's friend — but that very much includes warm relations with America's rivals and outright enemies, which drastically limits those uses.
It has, notably, been one of the prime funders of Hamas, whose headquarters is there — even as it was one of the first Gulf nations to (unofficially) embrace trade with Israel.
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It's a designated US Major Non-NATO Ally and hosts major US bases, but also hosts and owns Al Jazeera — a media network with a clear anti-American bias and a history of links to rabid Islamists.
It's an eager participant in and funder of AI initiatives — yet its easy relations with Beijing foster fears that it would aid China's relentless theft of Western intellectual property in this most cutting-edge research.
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So, yes: Qatar was plainly helpful in setting up the Israel-Iran ceasefire — but relying on it to broker deeper and longer-lasting accords could easily skew those negotiations into favoring a hidden agenda.
Doha is just plain slippery — the last quality anyone should want when looking for an honest broker.
Another possible complication: The Trump Organization's deal with Qatar's sovereign wealth fund to develop the Trump International Golf Club in Doha — a further blurring of interests that can only add fuel fearful speculation over just whose interests are being served by any Qatar-facilitated diplomatic accords.
Really, folks: If you want a neutral intermediary, what's wrong with Switzerland? It's served just fine in that role for a long, long time.
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