DOHA, Qatar — Qatar's Foreign Ministry has warned that reopening the Strait of Hormuz to normal shipping traffic must become an international priority, cautioning that the world faces an "industrial catastrophe" if the ongoing crisis in one of the world's most vital maritime chokepoints continues unresolved.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari delivered the warning to U.S. media Monday, as new data from maritime analytics firm Kpler showed an average of just 10 commodity ships transited the strait per day over the past 10 days, the lowest level recorded since May, following continued U.S. and Iranian strikes on tankers moving through the waterway.

The strait, through which roughly a fifth of the world's oil and gas supply normally passes, has remained under an effective Iranian blockade since the outbreak of war between the United States and Iran earlier this year. Full-scale military hostilities between the two countries had eased in June following a Memorandum of Understanding, but tensions have escalated sharply again since that agreement expired last month, with Iran resuming attacks on tankers attempting to evade the blockade in recent weeks.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, who also serves as the country's foreign minister, met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing to discuss regional developments, including freedom of navigation through the strait, according to a statement posted by Qatar's Foreign Ministry on X. Sheikh Mohammed affirmed Qatar's support for diplomatic efforts aimed at securing maritime navigation and "paving the way for a comprehensive........

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