TEHRAN – Qatari minister of state for foreign affairs Mohammad Al-Khulaifi arrived in the Iranian capital on Sunday for talks on a variety of issues. 

The Qatari minister met with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian and Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Ali Bagheri Kani.

Al-Khulaifi met Amir Abdollahian in Tehran in late March. During this trip, he also met with then-Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani. During his current visit, the Qatari minister also met the secretary of the Council, Ali Ahmadian. 

In his meeting with Amir Abdollahian, the Qatari official conveyed a letter from the emir of Qatar addressed to the Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi. The letter contains an invitation for President Raisi to visit Doha. 

The visit comes amid a flurry of contacts between Iran and its Arab neighbors. Recently, the foreign minister of Oman, Badr Albusaidi, visited Tehran, where he said Iran-Oman relations are an example of close relations in the region.

Also, on Saturday night, Amir Abdollahian spoke over the phone with his Emirati counterpart, Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan. In this call, the Iranian foreign minister pointed to his recent trip to the UAE and the very good and constructive meetings with the country’s high-ranking authorities and said the necessary arrangements had to be made to implement the agreements reached. The Iranian foreign minister said the security of the Persian Gulf region was important for the Islamic Republic of Iran and said, “Regional countries can provide the security of the region without foreign interference.”

The Emirati minister pointed to the mutual visits of the two countries’ officials, describing Amir Abdollahian’s recent trip to the UAE as very important. He also requested that bilateral cooperation be enhanced in all fields.

Al-Khulaifi and Ahmadian discussed issues related to bilateral relations and regional matters. In this meeting, the two sides stressed increasing the level of cooperation between the two countries in all areas, especially the business and commercial areas, and conducting joint activities in the field of implementing infrastructure projects, within the framework of a specific plan and schedule, and removing existing obstacles.

The Qatari official also conveyed a message from the Qatari prime minister to Ahmadian. 
Al-Khulaifi and Bagheri Kani discussed bilateral, regional, and international issues of mutual interest, according to state news agency IRNA. 

At the beginning of the meeting, Bagheri Kani touched on the desecration of the holy Quran in Europe. “Burning the Quran is the highest level of sacrilege to the holy book of Muslims and it means violating the basic and obvious rights of two billion people. Repetition of this crime in Europe is a clear and complete example of violation of human rights by false claimants of human rights,” Bagheri Kani said. 

He added, “Burning thought in Europe shows the decline of the place of human growth and progress among the claimants of global development and progress.”

Referring to the tragedy of the burning of the Holy Quran in several European countries, Bagheri Kani said, “Burning the Quran means celebrating the return of the devil of ignorance and the return of the dark ages of the Middle Ages to these countries.”

Referring to the pretext of the governments of Sweden and Denmark that they are committed to freedom of expression, the Iranian official said, “Burning books and thoughts is not freedom, but is the same as barbarism, and these governments have a responsibility to prevent cultural brutality in their countries. All responsible governments in the world, especially Islamic governments, have a duty to seriously deal with cultural brutality by pooling capacities and synergies in individual and collective form.”

Al-Khulaifi also pointed to the all-round and developing relations between Tehran and Doha, and the continuation of the consultations between the foreign ministry officials of the two countries is a sign of the serious will of both sides to remove obstacles in the development of relations and open new doors for cooperation.

He emphasized his country's determination to improve economic relations with Iran.

In this meeting, the two senior Iranian and Qatari diplomats emphasized the Islamic world's hatred of the crime of daring to violate the Holy Quran and called for collective action by Islamic countries, especially through the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

Iran has taken strong actions against Sweden and Denmark for allowing the desecration of the holy Quran. Iran summoned the ambassadors of these countries over the desecration of the holy Quran.