Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with his Qatari counterpart on Wednesday, according to Iranian state media. The two “met and exchanged views.”
The meeting follows another important meeting between Araghchi and Mikhail Bogdanov, the Russian president’s Special Representative for West Asia and Africa. Together, the meetings illustrate how Iran is positioning itself today – working with Qatar, which is an ally of the US, and Russia, as Moscow has hinted at a major escalation in Ukraine.
Doha has long enjoyed close ties to Iran, while Tehran backs Hamas, which is hosted by Qatar. Iran backed Hamas’s October 7 massacre and rallied its other proxies, Hezbollah and the Houthis, to attack Israel. The Iran-Qatar relationship is important for managing several regional files.
Doha’s influence over Hamas is large, with reports circulating recently that Hamas leaders may have relocated to Turkey due to American pressure on the Qataris to stop hosting the terrorists. Iran would prefer to coordinate with Doha on key matters, including Iran’s views about a possible ceasefire in Lebanon. A Turkish diplomatic source dismissed these reports on Monday and added that Hamas visited the country only from time to time.
US special envoy Amos Hochstein was in Lebanon on Wednesday to negotiate a ceasefire, as Qatari Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Araghchi, in Tehran, discussed bilateral and regional developments.
Iranian state media reported as well that Araghchi met with Bogdanov and “emphasized the Islamic Republic of Iran’s determination to further strengthen cooperation in bilateral and multilateral fields while referring to the very good relations between Tehran and Moscow,” IRNA noted. “Bogdanov…traveled to Tehran for consultations with Iranian officials…[and] on Tuesday evening met and held talks with Araghchi.”
Growing closer
Iran and Russia have been growing closer in recent years, with the former supplying the latter with drones to attack Ukraine. This week, Washington gave its approval for Kyiv to use US-supplied missiles to attack inside Russia, and the White House also said it would authorize land mines for Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hinted that if Washington cuts funding or support for Kyiv, it could lose the war. These are tense times, and Russia appears ready to escalate; already, the US and several European countries have temporarily closed their embassies in Kyiv due to a possible escalation by Moscow.
In Iran, though, things are looking more pleasant. Araghchi stressed the importance of good relations with Russia, expressing “hope that this visit would help further develop bilateral relations,” Iranian state media noted, adding that he “also considered the situation of insecurity and instability in the West Asian region are the result of the aggressive actions of the Zionist regime and warned against the expansion of the scope of conflicts to the entire region,” according to IRNA.
Iran also recently raised the issue of Western sanctions and what Iranian media call the “embargo on Iran’s airlines and shipping lines.” Iran is increasingly angry at the European Union, with Araghchi slamming the EU in the meetings with Moscow. This is how Iran is positioning itself to feed off Russia’s anger at the West and tie Iran economically to Russia and China.
Araghchi wrote on X/Twitter, “The EU and the UK, without presenting any evidence, have accused Iran of supplying ballistic missiles to Russia and imposed sanctions on our airlines and shipping.”
Araghchi said Iran will respond to the “unconstructive measures at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors’ session. Speaking in a phone call with IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi on Wednesday, Araghchi discussed the interactions between Iran’s FM moves to cement Russia, and Qatar ties and the IAEA following Grossi’s trip to Tehran, as well as the developments related to the Board of Governors meeting,” IRNA noted.
Reuters contributed to this report.