Expansion of Qatar-Iran ties

Tehran, Dec 27, IRNA - A visit by Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani to Iran's capital city of Tehran is a milestone, which helped Doha and Tehran to enhance relations in 2020. The Qatari Emir's trip happened less than 10 days after the United States assassinated Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani in Iraq on January 3, 2020. Sheikh Tamim addressed a joint press conference with President Hassan Rouhani, saying that the trip happens in a very sensitive juncture of the region; however, he added, Iran and Qatar are of the opinion that negotiation is the only solution to all crises. Describing US anti-Iran sanctions as unjust, the Qatari Emir emphasized that the United States is expected to lift the sanctions because the world is experiencing a new situation, which is affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Iran-Qatar relation witnessed different developments, but channels for dialogue, historical exchanges and good neighborliness have always been preserved, and they have been expanded in recent years. In June 2017, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt severed ties with Qatar and imposed sanctions on the Persian Gulf country in an attempt to force Qataris to cut the amicable relationship with Iran, but Doha and Tehran could bolster ties more than ever. Qatari Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani stressed that the preservation of good neighborly relations between Tehran and Doha has always been given importance. The Minister said in his recent visit to Moscow that Doha calls for dialogue between Iran and the Arab states of the Persian Gulf. Qatar has not accepted the anti-Iran strategy pursued by other member states of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council like Bahrain and the UAE and invited regional and non-regional countries to avoid tension. Mutlaq bin Majid Al-Qahtani , Qatar's Foreign Ministry Special Representative for Counter-Terrorism, underlined that current sanctions against Iran would not bring about positive results and are not helpful for resolving regional crises. Iran has good relations with Qatar, and Tehran has taken friendly stances when the Qatari people and government were grappling with oppressive siege by some littoral states of the Persian Gulf; so, Doha is grateful for the Iranians' support, Al-Qahtani stated. In 2020, the two friendly countries also held the seventh joint economic commission in Isfahan, Iran, in order to expand bilateral trade ties.