Iran signs 14 memorandums of understanding with Qatar
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The two countries meet during a gas summit, as Iran strengthens cooperation with Qatar as well as neighboring countries.
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The emir of Qatar and the Iranian president in Doha, Qatar.
Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi was in Qatar for a two-day visit, participating in the 6th Summit of Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF). Raisi also met with the emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and other officials of participant countries in the summit.
The two major goals springing from the trip are strengthening mutual trust and cooperation with neighboring countries, the second being enhancing Iran's share of regional economy and trade, according to Raisi upon his arrival back to Tehran.
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Raisi and Tamim signed 14 memorandums of understanding, and tasked their administrations to implement them.
Furthermore, the Iranian president revealed that he also had a meeting with Qatari businesses. During the meeting, industry ministers of both Iran and Qatar identified and removed obstacles between the two in trade, economy and investment.
On the sidelines of the summit, bilateral ties and regional and international cooperation were also discussed between Iran and the GECF heads of state.
After Joe Biden's crowning of Qatar as a major non-NATO ally, in addition to Tamim's visit to the White House to discuss gas supply to Europe in the middle of the Ukraine crisis, the GECF summit was organized with Qatar being the mediator.
Earlier this month, according to US officials, the US asked Qatar to provide emergency supplies if pipelines to Western Europe were impacted.
Biden met with Germany's new leader on Monday in a flurry of diplomacy across two continents, vowing to block the crucial Nord Stream 2 Russia-to-Germany gas pipeline if "Russia invades Ukraine."
Some EU countries expressed concern about imposing sanctions on Russia, which they did yesterday, saying that this can prompt it to cut off gas supplies to Europe during the winter, sparking crises in the continent that get more than 40% of its gas supplies from Russia.
Germany has recently suspended the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, as urged by Washington after Russian president Vladimir Putin recognized Lugansk and Donetsk as independent states.
