Middle East Desk
Report
TEHRAN: Iran’s top diplomat Mohammad Javad Zarif welcomed Qatar’s call on Gulf states to engage in a dialogue with the Islamic Republic and to broker negotiations. “As we have consistently emphasized, the solution to our challenges lies in collaboration to jointly form a ‘strong region’: peaceful, stable, prosperous & free from global or regional hegemony,” Zarif said on Wednesday on Twitter.
Zarif’s comments came after Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said on Monday his government was “hopeful” Iran and its Arab neighbours could resume talks. Qatar, which shares a major gas field with Iran, has for years called on Gulf Arab states to enter talks with Iran, which they accuse of fomenting unrest in the Middle East accusations Tehran denies.
“We still believe this should happen. This is also a desire that’s shared by other GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] countries,” Sheikh Mohammed said in an interview with Bloomberg TV.
Iran’s arch-rival Saudi Arabia has not publicly indicated any willingness to engage with Tehran, however.
Instead the Saudi kingdom insisted this month’s rapprochement with Qatar meant the Gulf family would be better able to combat “the threats posed by the Iranian regime’s nuclear and ballistic missile programme”. Qatar’s willingness to restore balance in the region comes as Doha has finally solved a three-year long diplomatic dispute with four Arab countries.
