TEHRAN – Iran’s capital Tehran is going to host the seventh round of Iran-Qatar joint economic committee meeting by the end of 2020, the Energy Ministry portal (Paven) announced.

The decision was made during an online meeting between Iranian Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian and Qatar’s Minister of Commerce and Industry Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari, who are the chairs of the mentioned committee, on Tuesday.

The two sides agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) approved by the two countries during the upcoming committee meeting and to further facilitate the development of trade relations between the two neighboring Muslim countries.

During the meeting, Al Kuwari invited the Iranian minister to visit Qatar in the second week of the next Iranian calendar month of Aban (begins on October 22).

Back in January, Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani visited Tehran and during his visit with the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, the officials stated that the two sides have stood and will stand by each other in the future.

“At a juncture of time, certain regional countries imposed restrictions on Qatar, but Iran stood beside Qatar and will stand based on its duties as a neighbor,” Rouhani said in a joint press conference.

“We hope that the two countries would reach agreements in economic cooperation, investment, technology, and other areas during the joint economic committee meeting,” he added.

For his part, the Qatari emir said that Doha will never forget Tehran’s help in difficult days, and called for expansion of relations.

EF/MA