Qatar has urged Gulf Arab nations to enter a dialogue with Iran, saying the time was right for Doha to broker negotiations now the neighbours have begun to patch up their own differences.

Regarding a summit between leaders of the six-member Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) and Iran, HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani told Bloomberg TV in an interview that he was "hopeful that this would happen and we still believe this should happen”.

"This is also a desire that’s shared by other GCC countries,” he said. "Qatar will facilitate negotiations if asked by stakeholders and will support whoever is chosen to do so,” he said. "We want the accomplishment, we want to see the deal happening,” he said of potential talks between the US and Iran. "Wherever it is, whoever it is conducting this negotiation, we will support them.”

HE Sheikh Mohamed said Qatar was already supporting ongoing discussions between Iran and South Korea to secure the release of an oil tanker seized by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard early this month.