Iran President Ebrahim Raisi’s two-day trip to Doha has resulted in signing important deals between the two nations. The two leaders also discussed the Vienna talks to restore Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
Iran and Qatar have signed 14 agreements during the week, according to IRNA. They range from trade and diplomatic cooperation to sport and culture, Raisi told journalists after his return to Tehran.
The Iranian leader 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 added on Tuesday night.
The two countries’ free trade zone got the new agreement on economy and trade, while another was between the Institute of Standards and Industrial Research of Iran and its Qatari counterpart. Two more deals dealt with culture and media; one was a two-year deal for cultural cooperation with the other outlining TV and radio cooperation.
Additionally, three agreements on ports and maritime affairs were inked this week. One of them will help to resolve issues on maritime transport, the second one touches the cooperation between port authorities of Iran and Qatar, and another on an idea to connect Iran and Qatar via an underwater tunnel were also reached.
Lastly, three agreements were signed on consular and diplomatic cooperation. No details of the inked deals and their timelines were shared.
The Iranian President 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.”
The two nations have improved their cooperation since the 2017 blockade imposed by Arab nations and have maintained ties since the blockade was lifted early last year.
