Qatar’s Emir meets Iran’s Pezeshkian in Moscow

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has met Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on the sidelines of an energy forum in Moscow, Iranian state media reported.

The two leaders “reviewed the current state of relations between Tehran and Doha and emphasised the importance of expanding political and economic relations and utilising existing capacities to enhance the level of bilateral cooperation”, Iranian state television reported on Tuesday.

They also reportedly discussed expanding cooperation in the energy sector at the meeting on the sidelines of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum in Moscow.

There was no mention of a discussion of the US-Israel war on Iran, which has seen Iran conduct missile and drone strikes on a range of targets across the region, including in Qatar.

Doha has been taking part in mediation efforts to end the nearly eight-month-old war. At a weekly briefing on Tuesday, a foreign ministry spokesman called for Iran to stop threatening Gulf states so that diplomacy can help to defuse tensions in the Middle East.