TEHRAN – Iranian President Ayatollah Seyed Ebrahim Raisi spoke over the phone with Qatari Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani on Sunday, according to Qatar’s state news agency QNA. 

“During the phone call, HE the Iranian President congratulated HH the Amir on the kickstart of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, and praised the good organization, expressing his best wishes to the participating teams in the tournament,” QNA reported.

It added, “The phone call also touched on the bilateral relations and aspects of promoting them in various areas of cooperation, in addition to the most prominent developments of common concern.”

President Raisi and Sheikh Tamim held a meeting in October on the sidelines of the recent CICA summit in Astana, Kazakhstan. 

In this meeting, the two sides discussed ways to improve bilateral relations, especially in the economic and commercial fields.

President Raisi welcomed the 35% growth of trade relations between the two sides in the past year and described the existing capacities in the two countries as suitable for developing relations and raising the level of cooperation, according to a statement by the official website of the Iranian presidency.

Sheikh Tamim, in turn, announced his country's readiness to implement the promotion of relations between the two countries to a strategic level. He thanked the cooperation of the Islamic Republic of Iran in preparing the grounds for holding the World Cup as best as possible.

Referring to the right of the Islamic Republic of Iran to peaceful use of nuclear energy, Sheikh Tamim said, "One of the wonders of the international community is that the most stubborn opponent of Iran's use of nuclear energy is the regime that has the most dangerous nuclear weapons and arsenals.

Iran and Qatar enjoy very close relations and the officials of the two countries periodically hold meetings on bilateral, regional, and international issues.