US leaving oil-for-security approach, not Middle East: Envoy Tom Barrack

US diplomat Tom Barrack questions Washington’s decades of intervention in the region as Qatar says negotiations to end the war on Iran are continuing.

[Screen grab/Global Security Forum]

Doha, Qatar — The United States is moving away from its traditional security-for-oil relationship with the Middle East and no longer seeks to dominate the region, senior US diplomat Tom Barrack has said.

However, it was not abandoning the Middle East, he added, speaking at the Global Security Forum in Doha on Tuesday — but rather reassessing its role, after years of attempts to reshape governments across the region.

list 1 of 3 Qatar to unveil regional defence partnership

list 2 of 3 Houthi attack on Yemen army camp in Shabwa kills at least 53: reports

list 3 of 3 Saudi Arabia cancels 2026 ‘Davos in the Desert’ amid Houthi attacks

“The US no longer wants to own,” said Barrack, who serves as US Ambassador to Turkiye and Special Envoy for Syria. “The bargain is not to control, but to not leave. We’re not leaving.”

Barrack acknowledged that regional countries were increasingly recognising the limits of US involvement.

“Everybody is saying: OK, I can’t rely on America to solve all my problems,” he said.

Barrack questioned the effectiveness of previous interventions, saying that the US had been involved in 23 regime changes across the wider Middle East.

“Every time we try and intervene, change the person or the regime, it seems to have been a mistake,” he said.

His comments come as Washington and Tehran try to negotiate an end to the US-Israeli war on Iran that has destabilised the region and disrupted global energy supplies.

Political analyst Luciano Zaccara described Barrack as probably “the most realistic of Trump’s allies” in his assessment of US involvement in the Middle East.

He told Al Jazeera that Barrack had effectively acknowledged that regime change, one of Trump’s stated objectives in the war on Iran, was unlikely to succeed.

Zaccara said Barrack’s reference to regime changes in the Middle East was an acknowledgement “that what the US has been doing in the region has not been working, regardless of which administration it was”.

According to Zaccara, Barrack had stopped just short of suggesting that Trump needed to retreat from “the maximalist demands” he had made of Iran.

US-Iran negotiations ongoing

Qatar says negotiations between Tehran and Washington are continuing despite growing fears of renewed fighting.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Majed al-Ansari, speaking separately at the Global Security Forum, said mediators were continuing to exchange messages between the warring parties, with regional partners involved in efforts to reach a deal.

“We are working between the parties, continuing our job as mediator with our partners and others in the region,” he said.

Al-Ansari said the lack of public information about the negotiations should not be interpreted as a lack of progress.

“The fact that we’re not hearing about it is a good sign that we’re doing our job properly,” he said.

The diplomatic efforts come as Iran’s seven-day proposal to end the war remains on the table, with the US yet to give its response.

The plan envisages reopening the Strait of Hormuz and resuming nuclear negotiations in exchange for US concessions, including lifting the naval blockade on Iranian ports and easing economic sanctions on Tehran.

Analyst Negar Mortazavi said the diplomatic door remained open, but negotiations were stalled over the terms and sequencing of an agreement.

“Tehran wants to end the war, but it is not prepared to surrender under military or economic pressure,” she told Al Jazeera on the sidelines of the forum in Doha.

The Strait of Hormuz remains a major flashpoint, with attacks on commercial shipping raising concerns over global energy supplies. Before the US-Israeli war on Iran, one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas supplies transited through the strait.

Mortazavi said the escalation was part of Tehran’s strategy to maintain leverage against Washington despite its military disadvantages.

“Iran’s leverage has diminished but has not disappeared,” she said. “Moving tankers is not the same as restoring safe, predictable and normal maritime traffic.”

According to Mortazavi, Tehran wants to increase the economic and political costs of the war for Trump, while signalling to future US administrations that military action against Iran carries consequences.

But she warned that continued escalation posed serious risks to Iran and the wider region.

“Ultimately, neither military escalation nor economic pressure is likely to produce Iranian capitulation,” she said.

Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson also reaffirmed Doha’s support for Riyadh in the fighting against Yemen’s Houthi armed group, saying it backed Saudi Arabia in “defending their sovereignty against this attack”.

Fighting intensified in September after the Houthis seized areas along Yemen’s Red Sea coast, including the port city of Mocha. In response, forces loyal to Yemen’s internationally recognised government launched an offensive, dubbed “Dawn of Yemen”, on October 4, backed by Saudi air strikes.

The Houthis have retaliated with missile and drone attacks on Saudi airports, oil facilities and military installations. Strikes on Riyadh’s King Khalid international airport earlier this month killed at least 14 people and wounded hundreds.

美国外交官汤姆·巴拉克质疑华盛顿数十年来对该地区进行干预的做法，与此同时，卡塔尔表示结束对伊朗战争的谈判仍在继续。

[屏幕截图/全球安全论坛]

卡塔尔多哈——美国高级外交官汤姆·巴拉克表示，美国正在摆脱与中东传统的以安全换取石油的关系，不再寻求主导该地区。

但他周二在多哈举行的全球安全论坛上表示，这并非意味着放弃中东，而是在多年试图重塑该地区各国政府之后，重新评估其在中东的角色。

卡塔尔将公布区域防务伙伴关系（共3项，此为第1项）

据报道，胡塞武装袭击也门沙布瓦省一处政府军营地，造成至少53人死亡（共3条记录，此为第2条）。

沙特阿拉伯因胡塞武装袭击取消2026年“沙漠达沃斯”论坛（共3条，此为第3条）

“美国不再想拥有主权，”巴拉克说道，他是美国驻土耳其大使兼叙利亚问题特使。“我们达成的协议不是控制，而是不撤离。我们不会撤离。”

巴拉克承认，地区各国越来越认识到美国介入的局限性。

他说：“每个人都在说：好吧，我不能指望美国解决我所有的问题。”

巴拉克质疑以往干预行动的有效性，称美国在大中东地区参与了 23 次政权更迭。

他说：“每次我们试图干预，改变领导人或政权时，似乎都犯了错误。”

在他发表这番言论之际，华盛顿和德黑兰正试图通过谈判结束美以对伊朗的战争，这场战争破坏了该地区的稳定，并扰乱了全球能源供应。

政治分析家卢西亚诺·扎卡拉在评估美国在中东的介入时，称巴拉克可能是“特朗普盟友中最务实的一位”。

他告诉半岛电视台，巴拉克实际上已经承认，政权更迭（特朗普在对伊朗战争中提出的目标之一）不太可能成功。

扎卡拉表示，巴拉克提及中东政权更迭，承认“无论哪个政府执政，美国在该地区所做的事情都没有奏效”。

据扎卡拉称，巴拉克几乎就要暗示特朗普需要放弃他对伊朗提出的“最高要求”。

美伊谈判仍在进行中

卡塔尔表示，尽管人们越来越担心战火重燃，但德黑兰和华盛顿之间的谈判仍在继续。

外交部发言人马吉德·安萨里在全球安全论坛上单独发表讲话时表示，调解人正在交战各方之间继续交换信息，地区伙伴也参与其中，努力达成协议。

他说：“我们正在各方之间开展工作，继续与我们的合作伙伴和该地区的其他人士一起履行调解人的角色。”

安萨里表示，谈判缺乏公开信息不应被解读为缺乏进展。

他说：“我们没有听到任何相关消息，这说明我们工作做得不错。”

在伊朗提出的为期七天的结束战争方案仍然有效，而美国尚未作出回应之际，外交努力正在进行中。

该计划设想重新开放霍尔木兹海峡并恢复核谈判，以换取美国的让步，包括解除对伊朗港口的海上封锁和放松对德黑兰的经济制裁。

分析人士内加尔·莫尔塔扎维表示，外交大门仍然敞开，但由于协议的条款和顺序问题，谈判陷入僵局。

“德黑兰希望结束战争，但它不准备在军事或经济压力下投降，”她在多哈论坛间隙告诉半岛电视台。

霍尔木兹海峡仍然是一个主要的冲突热点地区，针对商船的袭击事件引发了人们对全球能源供应的担忧。在美以对伊朗发动战争之前，全球五分之一的石油和天然气供应都要经过该海峡。

莫尔塔扎维表示，局势升级是德黑兰在军事上处于劣势的情况下，为保持对华盛顿的影响力而采取的战略的一部分。

“伊朗的影响力有所减弱，但并未消失，”她说。“调动油轮并不等同于恢复安全、可预测和正常的海上交通。”

莫尔塔扎维表示，德黑兰希望增加特朗普发动战争的经济和政治成本，同时向未来的美国政府发出信号：对伊朗采取军事行动会带来后果。

但她警告说，局势持续升级将对伊朗和更广泛的地区构成严重风险。

“归根结底，无论是军事升级还是经济压力，都不太可能使伊朗屈服，”她说。

卡塔尔外交部发言人也重申了多哈对利雅得打击也门胡塞武装的支持，称卡塔尔支持沙特阿拉伯“捍卫其主权，抵御此次袭击”。

9月，胡塞武装占领了也门红海沿岸地区，包括港口城市摩卡，战事升级。作为回应，效忠也门国际公认政府的部队在沙特阿拉伯空袭的支持下，于10月4日发动了代号为“也门黎明”的攻势。

胡塞武装以导弹和无人机袭击沙特机场、石油设施和军事设施进行报复。本月初，利雅得哈立德国王国际机场遭到袭击，造成至少14人死亡，数百人受伤。