TEHRAN – Mohammad bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, the deputy prime minister and foreign minister of Qatar, has called for dialogue between Iran and the neighboring Arab states to deescalate tensions in the region.

The Qatari foreign minister, who is on an official visit to Russia, said he discussed with the Russian officials a variety of regional issues including the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

“We discussed various regional issues, developments in the [Persian] Gulf crisis and the Iranian nuclear agreement,” Al Thani said, according to Aljazeera, adding that Qatar views the security of the Persian Gulf as a priority and that “escalation is not in the interest of anyone.”

The chief Qatari diplomat called for regional dialogue to defuse tensions and ensure stability.

“We call for dialogue between the [Persian] Gulf countries and Iran, and we welcome any initiatives that make the region more stable,” Al Thani pointed out.

The Qatari foreign minister made the remarks on Wednesday after a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.

The Russian foreign minister said he discussed regional issues with his Qatari counterpart.

“We discussed the situation in the [Persian] Gulf and stressed the importance of forming the concept of collective security for the benefit of the parties in the region,” Aljazeera quoted Lavrov as saying.

Al Thani met with several Russian officials, including Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian government Yury Borisov, during his visit to Moscow.

The meeting with Borisov dealt with reviewing bilateral relations and the means to enhance cooperation in different fields, particularly in the economy and investment fields to increase bilateral trade volume, according to a Qatari Foreign Ministry statement.

During his meeting with Lavrov, the Qatari foreign minister also underlined the importance of boosting economic cooperation between Doha and Moscow.

MS/PA