Tehran
Qatar’s ruler, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, said during a visit to Iran on Sunday that de-escalation and dialogue were needed to resolve regional crises at a “sensitive” time.He was speaking in a televised news conference with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani during a visit to Tehran at a time of heightened US-Iran tensions that threaten to destabilise the region.
Sheikh Tamim also thanked Iran, with which his country shares a giant gas field, for supporting Doha by providing air and land routes.
Qatar’s Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al-Thani reportedly called for a peaceful solution that would lead to de-escalation during a visit to Tehran in the immediate aftermath of the US strike on January 3.
The visit follows the US killing of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in a drone strike near Baghdad’s airport, and Iran’s admission that it shot down an airliner near Tehran by mistake on Wednesday, killing all 176 people on board. –AFP
