Qatar’s emir has held talks with Iran’s supreme leader and the country’s president during a state visit amid high tensions in the region.
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani met Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s spiritual leader and its highest authority, in Tehran on Wednesday.
The leaders discussed bilateral relations, as well as regional and international issues of mutual interest.
The visit comes as tensions remain high across the region, with fragile ceasefires holding following months of war in Lebanon and Gaza and a transitional government in place in Syria following the removal of President Bashar al-Assad.
Sheikh Tamim acknowledged the tensions in the region and urged countries to cooperate more to address the situation, the Iranian state news agency IRNA reported.
Khamenei said that Iran considers Qatar a “brotherly country” despite some “unclear and unresolved” issues, including frozen Iranian assets.
Around $6bn in Iranian funds remain frozen under United States sanctions and are currently held in a Qatari bank, after previously being released by South Korea in September 2023.
Khamenei criticesd the US for obstructing the agreement to return the funds to Iran.
“We know that the US is the main obstacle to the implementation of an agreement that had been reached in this regard,” he said, adding that Iran expects Qatar to resist pressure from Washington and return Iran’s assets.
Sheikh Tamim earlier met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian for talks in the Iranian capital and the leaders held a press briefing afterwards.
“It’s my pleasure to visit Iran today in a time where the region is witnessing a lot of challenges and developments that necessitate coordination,” Sheikh Tamim said.
Pezeshkian said that the countries have strong relations, and hold “similar viewpoints regarding the region and international issues”.
The leaders discussed “the unity of the Syrian territories and the participation of all categories in Syria to determine their future”, Sheikh Tamim said.
Pezeshkian said that Iran thanked Qatar for its mediation efforts in securing a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza after 15 months of Israel’s war there.
The leaders also discussed expanding economic ties.
“We confirmed the necessity of exploring more chances in the field of the economy and trade between our both countries,” Sheikh Tamim said.
Tohid Asadi, a professor of politics at the University of Tehran, said the meeting was “critically important”.
“We heard the two leaders put an emphasis on the necessity of peace in the region [and] on the necessity of expanding [economic] ties,” Asadi said.
