Qatar’s Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani says local challenges “need to coordinate.”
Qatar’s chief has been in talks with Iran’s top leader and the country’s president during his visit to the province amid growing tensions in the region.
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani met Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Iranian spiritual leader and highest authority, in Tehran on Wednesday.
Leaders discussed bilateral relations and regional and international issues of mutual interest.
The visit has been held to a fragile ceasefire in Syria following the removal of President Bashar al-Assad, as tensions have risen across the region. It’s there.
Sheikh Tamim has acknowledged tensions in the region and urged the country to cooperate more in dealing with the situation, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported.
Khamenei said Iran considers it a “brother country” despite some “unclear and unresolved” issues, including Qatar’s frozen assets.
Iran’s roughly $6 billion in funding remains frozen under US sanctions and is currently being held at the Bank of Qatar after it was previously released by South Korea in September 2023.
Khamenei criticized the US for blocking the agreement to return the funds to Iran.
“We know that the US is a major obstacle to implementing the agreement achieved in this respect,” he says, and Iran will resist pressure from Washington and return Iran’s assets. He added that he hopes for this.
Sheikh Tamim previously met Iranian President Maud Pezeshkian for consultations in the Iranian capital and later held a briefing for the press.
“It’s my joy in a time when I’m visiting Iran today and witnessing many challenges and developments that the region needs to be coordinated,” Sheikh Tamim said.
Pezeschkian said the countries have strong ties and have “similar perspectives on regional and international issues.”
Leaders discussed “uniforming Syrian territory and participation of all Syrian categories to determine their future,” Sheikh Tamim said.
Pezeshkian said he thanked Qatar for his mediation efforts to secure a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza after Iran fought the Israeli war for 15 months.
Leaders also discussed expanding economic relations.
“We have identified the need to explore more opportunities in the economic sector and explore trade between the two countries,” Sheikh Tamim said.
Tohid Assadi, a political professor at Tehran University, said the meeting was “very important.”
“I’ve heard that the two leaders are focusing on the need for peace in the region.