Qatari Minister of State Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al Khulaifi is in Iran this week and has held meetings with Iranian officials, including Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, according to reports.
Doha says it is doing regional engagement, and this could be linked to Qatar being a “go-between for Tehran and Washington,” Pakistan’s English-language The Nation newspaper reported.
“Al-Khulaifi handed an invitation letter from the Qatari Emir for President Ebrahim Raisi to the top Iranian diplomat, pointing to the significance of the visit,” the report said. “Earlier in the day, the senior Qatari diplomat also met and held talks with Iran’s deputy foreign minister and lead nuclear negotiator, Ali Bagheri Kani, as well as the recently appointed security chief, Ali-Akbar Ahmadian.”
Iranian pro-regime media reported the visit as well, saying the Qataris carried a “message” for Tehran.
The meeting with Ahmadian is important. In May, he replaced the long-time head of the National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, who was head of the Supreme National Security Council. Ahmadian was a senior commander in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Doha and Tehran
Qatar and Iran “discussed bilateral and regional relations,” Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported.
The countries discussed joint work on infrastructure projects, the report said.
Al-Khalifi “congratulated Ahmadian on his appointment as the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and presented the written message of Mohammad Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, the prime minister of Qatar, to the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council,” Iranian state media reported.