The Emir of Qatar visits Tehran – Why?
The relationship between Qatar and Iran appears to be fraught with some tension, as shown in recent Iranian statements, so Tamim bin Hamad visits Tehran, showing more submission and shame to leaders to implement their demands, which has deeply angered the Qataris.
The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ statement states that Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi will visit a Gulf country after the current visit of the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad, to Tehran, without publishing a statement welcoming him.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Said Khatibzadeh said: “The visit of the Emir of Qatar will be in response to the visit of the Iranian President to Doha”, adding: “The Emir of Qatar’s visit to Tehran will address bilateral and regional issues”.
Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani is holding talks with officials in Tehran on Thursday, Iranian state media reported, his first visit to the Islamic Republic in more than two years.
On Wednesday, the official IRNA news agency reported that the Emir of Qatar will visit Iran on May 12 to discuss developing relations between the two countries, especially in the framework of the 2022 World Cup hosted by the Emirate at the end of this year, and to continue researching files put forward by both sides during the visit of Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi to Doha about three months ago.
He said “regional and international” issues would be on the agenda of the Emir’s visit.
The visit comes after the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs, Ali Bagheri Kani, said that Tehran’s relations with Doha have not reached the desired level. He called for harnessing all common capacities to achieve this goal, as Iran is imposing its control on the Qatari Amiri Palace and trying to use the country for its own benefit and to obtain its funds to face the current economic crises in it.
In a questionable letter to Qatar, he continued: “If we have any doubts about the need to strengthen rapprochement and dealings between us, this will undoubtedly cost us all the costs of disagreements and distancing ourselves from each other”, he stressed, the need to build mutual political trust and strengthen economic ties among the countries of the region to raise the level of regional cooperation and rapprochement.
The visit is Emir Tamim’s first to Iran in more than two years. But Qatar hosted the Iranian president in February, visiting Tehran for the last time in January 2020, days after Revolutionary Guard General Qassem Soleimani was killed in a U.S. airstrike near Baghdad airport.
His new visit comes in the wake of Qatar’s preparations to host the World Cup between November and December, for the first time in the Middle East and North Africa. Iran hopes to attract tourists from the fans who will come to Qatar, with free visas, an effort to double flights, and the preparation of potential hotels, especially in the tourist island of Kish.
The visit also coincides with a deadlock in talks aimed at reviving the agreement between Tehran and the major powers on the Iranian nuclear program, and in the midst of rising energy resource prices following the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Iran and Qatar are among the most prominent countries in the world in terms of gas reserves, a Qatari government official previously told FPA: Doha is “trying to help revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action,” the official name of the nuclear deal.
The visit provoked wide anger among the Qataris, after the submission of the Emir of Qatar to Iran amidst the President’s disregard for him. The Emir of Qatar arrived in Tehran at the invitation of Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi, who did not receive the Emir of Qatar but sent his deputy to receive him, Mohammed Mukhbir, criticizing the Qatari description of Iran as a sister country.
