The Trump administration secretly authorized Qatar to funnel billions of dollars to Iran in exchange for safe passage of Qatari vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, Yisrael Hayom reported Monday, citing three unnamed diplomatic officials.

According to the report, by journalist Danny Zaken, Washington quietly signed off on the financial and maritime arrangement about a month ago, allowing the US Navy to look the other way even as it publicly maintained a hard line and claimed to be enforcing a blockade on Iranian shipping. The aim, the officials told the paper, was to relieve pressure on global energy markets and rein in rising oil prices.

If accurate, the account would indicate that the United States laid the financial groundwork for the memorandum of understanding now being negotiated with Iran, at a moment when the Iranian economy was under severe strain from the war.
Yisrael Hayom said the arrangement dovetailed with Qatar’s own interest in opening a direct line to Tehran after the ceasefire. Doha, which the report said saw one of its gas installations struck during the fighting, feared a renewed Iranian assault and sought to buy quiet. The paper noted that while the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia were hit by missile and drone attacks after the truce, Qatar provided financial help to Iran and was left untouched.

As part of the understanding, the report said, Iran was granted access to a portion of its deposits held in Qatar. Some of the payments were said to have been disguised as fees for tankers transiting Hormuz, and a credit line of up to $1 billion was reportedly opened for the purchase of goods routed through Qatar.

The report tied the arrangement to recent public boasting by President Donald Trump that the United States had managed to move ships through Hormuz despite the Iranian blockade. A significant share of those vessels, the paper said, passed under the secret deal.

Yisrael Hayom further reported that during a visit to Doha by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati, direct calls were held with Washington, with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on the line overseeing the talks. The arrangement drew interest from other Gulf states. It named the UAE as having sought a similar deal that worked only in part, noting that Iran has refrained from striking the Emirates while firing barrages at Bahrain and Kuwait. One official suggested the setup also served Saudi interests, with Riyadh involved in mediation after a sharp drop in oil revenue.

The same report said negotiations in Washington have stalled in recent days over three sticking points. Iran is demanding the immediate release of $12 billion frozen in Qatar upon signing, which the United States has refused to grant before Hormuz is fully reopened and Tehran commits on the nuclear file. Iran has also declined to put a commitment on enriched uranium in writing or to discuss halting enrichment. A US demand that any unfrozen funds be earmarked for civilian use under tight supervision has reportedly been softened, with oversight of the money now expected to fall to Qatar alone.

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