TEHRAN — Diplomats from Iranian and Qatari foreign ministries held talks in Tehran on Tuesday to discuss bilateral relationship.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Ali Bagheri Kani told Secretary General of Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ahmed bin Hassan Al-Hammadi that that prioritizing neighbors is a basic strategy and not a short-lived tactic of the Islamic Republic.

Their meeting was held within the framework of the Iran-Qatar Political Consultative Committee.

“If we hesitate to pay the price of regional interaction and convergence, the costs of disagreement and divergence will undoubtedly be imposed on everyone,” Bagheri said.
 
He added that the price of regional interaction and convergence will be creating and strengthening mutual political trust and strengthening economic ties.

Noting that national and regional interests overlap, the Iranian diplomat 
said there is no conflict between national interests and the collective interests of the countries in the region. 

Bagheri Kani added foreigners must not be allowed to use the pretext of conflict of national interests between regional countries as a cover to legitimize their hegemonic policies.

Involvement of foreigners and their military presence in the Persian Gulf will not create stability and security, and that the countries of the region can ensure stability and security through political cooperation and economic convergence, he pointed out.

Emphasizing that Iran's regional interaction and cooperation policy is not a "temporary tactic" but a "strategic policy", Bagheri Kani said the stability of the neighborhood policy in the region is based on convergence and proximity of regional nations and resistance to foreign intervention and that these two pillars will work synergistically and will produce power coming from within the regional countries.

Bagheri Kani added that the existing relationship between the two sides is still significantly distant from what it should be, so all capacities should be tapped to improve relations.

For his part, Al-Hammadi referred to the successful February visit of the Iranian president to Doha and the forthcoming visit of the Emir of Qatar to Iran as well as the formation of a political consultation committee, saying relations between the two countries are vast and deep.

The Qatari government considers the development of bilateral cooperation and the holding of regional political consultations with Iran as an added value for the realization of peace and stability in the region.

He said the history of strong relations between Iran and Qatar dates back to the time before the two countries established diplomatic relations. 

“The roots of friendly ties between the two sides are so strong that no incident in the history of relations has been able to disrupt it, and this pattern of relations can be offered among regional countries and other nations, and a few years ago, during the embargo on Qatar by some countries in the region, it was the Islamic Republic of Iran that cooperated and provided sincere assistance to Qatar,” Al-Hammadi stated. 

Secretary general of the Qatari foreign ministry stressed the need to strengthen regional dialogue to eliminate problems and facilitate cooperation between the two sides, and said that the agreements reached during the visit of the president of Iran to Doha are being seriously pursued by the Qatari side.

At the end of the meeting, the minutes of the first meeting of the Political Consultative Committee of Iran and Qatar were signed by the deputy foreign ministers of the two sides.