A senior Gulf official has revealed that behind-the-scenes contacts between Qatar and Iran in the final days of the war may have led to a sharp reduction in Iranian attacks on Doha, though Qatari authorities are firmly rejecting the claim.

According to the official, who spoke with a regional correspondent, recent reports of quiet understandings between the two countries followed an Iranian strike on a major gas facility in northern Qatar.

The source said that in exchange for scaling back attacks, Iran requested that Qatar’s Al Jazeera network adopt a less aggressive tone toward Tehran and provide greater exposure to Iranian voices. “This indeed happened,” the official said, emphasizing Iran’s view of the network as a key platform for messaging to the Arab world.

One of the figures highlighted as receiving airtime was Hassan Ahmadian of the University of Tehran, who appeared on both the English and Arabic broadcasts of Al Jazeera. These appearances, the source noted, came during a period when the network’s coverage of Iran shifted from sharp criticism of its actions in the Gulf to a more moderated tone.

Earlier in the conflict, Iran’s state broadcasting authority had threatened to target Al Jazeera’s offices in Doha, but later unexpectedly withdrew the warning and canceled evacuation alerts. Qatari officials at the time denied any link between that reversal and changes in the network’s editorial stance.

Qatar has categorically denied that any agreement was reached with Iran during the war. Officials in Doha stated clearly, “There was no deal,” rejecting claims that Qatar paid Iran to halt attacks or influenced Al Jazeera’s coverage in any way.

Qatar is widely considered one of the Gulf states maintaining relatively close ties with Iran, even during periods of regional tension. During the war, however, Doha expelled Iran’s military attaché after repeated strikes on its energy infrastructure.

Reports of possible coordination emerged after Iran targeted a major gas installation in northern Qatar during the conflict. President Donald Trump had also stated that Israel would refrain from striking the gas field again unless Iran launched further attacks on Qatar, warning that in such a scenario the United States would respond by destroying Iran’s South Pars gas field.

The revelation adds to the ongoing strain in the Persian Gulf, where Sunni Arab states are pressing the United States to take a firmer stance against Iran. While Trump has spoken of a “diplomatic window,” Gulf nations continue to call for the complete dismantling of Tehran’s nuclear and missile capabilities.