Iran, Qatar sign major agreements on Raisi’s Doha trip

Tehran, Iran – Qatar and Iran have signed 14 agreements during President Ebrahim Raisi’s two-day trip to Doha this week.

Raisi was accompanied by oil minister Javad Owji and foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian on the trip, which also included participation in the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) in the Qatari capital.

“Bilateral relations and trade, economy, energy, culture and especially investment issues were discussed in the meetings [with the Qatari emir and officials],” Raisi told reporters on Tuesday night after his return to Tehran.

On economy and trade, an agreement was signed between the two countries’ free trade zone authorities while another was between the Institute of Standards and Industrial Research of Iran and its Qatari counterpart.

An agreement on tourism, a two-year agreement on sports and youth, and one on education were also signed while an energy deal was reached between Iran’s Tavanir and Qatar’s Electricity and Water Company.

Three agreements on ports and maritime affairs included one on maritime transport, one between the two countries’ port authorities, and another on an idea to connect Iran and Qatar via an underwater tunnel were also reached.

Two more agreements dealt with culture and media; one was a two-year deal for cultural cooperation with the other outlining television and radio cooperation.

Lastly, three agreements were signed on consular and diplomatic cooperation.

The first details visa waivers for diplomatic trips, another covers “political consultations” on issues of joint interest between the two countries’ foreign ministries while the third agreement, between the foreign ministries’ research centres, relates to “political education” and research.

No further details of the agreements and their timelines were shared.

According to state-run news agency IRNA’s website, Raisi also met a group of Qatari businesspeople and investors, and called for the establishment of a joint business centre in Doha that would facilitate investments.

“These agreements must be implemented,” Raisi added. “My colleagues in the government will follow up on this and Qatar’s emir also tasked his top officials to quickly pursue implementation of these agreements.”

Raisi and the Qatari emir also discussed the Vienna talks to restore Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, which Qatar has supported, and other regional issues of joint interest, including Palestine.

Iran and Qatar have grown closer since the 2017 blockade imposed by Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations and have maintained ties since the blockade was lifted early last year.