Qatar hands over 28 prisoners to Iran.. Is Doha trying to cause chaos in the region again?

In a controversial move that increases anxiety and tension in the Arab region, Qatar has released new criminals to its ally Iran, whose relationship is causing major crises in the Arab region, to make that decision under the guise of releasing prisoners, in a new attempt to mislead domestic and international public opinion.

This was exemplified by the announcement by the Emir of Qatar, Sheik Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, of the agreement to hand over 28 Iranian prisoners to Tehran’s ambassador in Doha, Hamid Reza Dehqani, on Monday.

Dehqani tweeted: “Following Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s visit to Doha, the Emir of Qatar has agreed to issue a decree to extradite 28 prisoners to our country”, the nature of the charges against them was not disclosed to the public.

The Qatari decision raises the question of why such a move is being taken, ahead of the 2022 World Cup, whether it is trying to destabilize the region, create problems, or provoke anarchy again, or whether it is trying to secure the World Cup with armies of mercenaries and criminals, a goal that Tehran is desperately seeking, to try to gain a foothold in that event.

The Iranian President visited Qatar in February this year, where he met with the Emir and discussed issues of common concern. The visit witnessed the signing of 14 agreements in many fields, including education, trade, visa cancelation, and others.

At the time, officials from both countries made no public statements regarding the transfer of Iranian officials from Qatar, and before Raisi’s visit, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian was in Qatar in January and also met with the emir.

Sources told Reuters that the Iranian diplomat requested Qatar’s help in brokering the release of Iranian-Americans and Iranian-Europeans imprisoned in Tehran, without providing any information on whether Qatar agreed to Iran’s request.

Iranian and Qatari officials have made no public statements on the matter, and Iran has long denied detaining prisoners for political reasons and using the swap as a precondition for restoring the 2015 nuclear deal, with Qatar mediating between Tehran and Washington to lift economic sanctions on its ally.

A few days ago, Iran expressed its desire to host fans heading to neighboring Qatar to attend the World Cup, with free visas and officials seeking to double flights between the two countries and prepare hotels for a possible mass influx, according to a report published by France 24.

Iranian government spokesman Ali Bahadori Jahromi announced on Twitter the cabinet’s decision to grant free visas to fans of the Qatar World Cup 2022 during the tournament’s dates between November 21 and December 18, 2022. He confirmed that the abolition of visa fees contributes significantly to attracting World Cup fans to visit Iran and to developing the tourism sector in the country.

Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi held talks with the Emir of Qatar, Sheik Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, on means of cooperation in organizing the World Cup events, which Qatar is scheduled to host later this year. Raisi expressed his country’s readiness to provide all kinds of assistance to Qatar in organizing the 2022 World Cup from its islands near Qatar.