Rouhani and Tamim in Kuala Lumpur: Doha continues to be subject to the mullahs’ regime

Mohammed Abdul Ghaffar

Qatar found its ambitions in Iran, and vice versa, and the rapprochement between the two sides increased after the Arab Quartet of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain boycotted Doha, after its suspicious activities in supporting extremism and destroying Arab countries.

Doha tried to use the mullahs’ regime as a pressure card on the Arab Quartet, while Tehran sought to find another foothold in the Gulf region, in order to threaten the countries of the region, and expand its geographical presence in order to achieve its expansionist dreams.

New encounter

The Iranian-Qatari rapprochement increased after the Arab boycott of Doha, June 2017, and the meetings that gathered the leaderships of the two countries varied at all levels, with the main title being conspiracy against the Arab countries.

The last of which was the meeting between Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad, on Thursday 19 December 2019, on the sidelines of the mini-Islamic summit, which is being hosted by the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, according to the official Iranian news agency IRNA.

Rouhani and Tamim praised the relations between the two countries, describing them as “always evolving”, and President Rouhani stressed that “his country will stand with the State of Qatar, condemn any pressure or restrictions imposed on it, and will seize the opportunity to develop economic and trade relations.”

An ancient history of cooperation

Iran’s relationship has witnessed a severe cooling off in the relationship of the Gulf states, especially with the latter standing beside Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War, and this relationship continued without significant development with all countries except Qatar, which was quick to cooperate with the mullahs ’regime after the war ended.

Despite the balanced relationship that Qatar has sought with Tehran since the Iranian revolution in 1979, the close rapprochement between the two parties came after 1991, when the two sides agreed to establish a water project linking the two countries.

Iran’s proposed water project aims to build pipelines that carry water from the Karun River, in southwestern Iran, to Qatar, as a plan to address the water shortage in Doha.

The relationship between the two parties did not stop there, but it extended to official visits, such as the visit of the Qatari Minister of Electricity and Water to Tehran in 1995, to sign agreements between them, then the visit of Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani to Iran, 1996, carrying a message from the Qatari Emir Hamad bin Khalifa to Iranian President Ali Akbar Rafsanjani.

Then Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani’s visit to Tehran in 2000, and was the first visit by a ruler of a Gulf country to Iran in twenty years, and resulted in the signing of a large number of agreements and protocols between the two parties in various fields.

Despite the danger of the Iranian nuclear file to the region and the world, the Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, March 10, 2008, considered that “the brotherhood in Iran officially affirms the peaceful nature of the nuclear program, with a view to its use in the production of electrical energy.”

Qatar losing its sovereignty in favor of the mullahs

With Qatar’s repeated attempt to interfere in the affairs of the Arab countries, supporting extremist groups that seek to control and demolish the building of these states, and not responding to diplomatic attempts, the Arab Quartet resorted to boycotting Doha and placing 13 demands to restore relations to their nature, on June 5, 2017.

Doha did not back down from its extremist positions, as it resorted to Iran and Turkey, despite their strained relations with the Arab countries, in order to make the matter more complicated and worse, and Tehran became the biggest winner of that, as it interfered strongly in the Qatari internal affairs.

1- Economic situation:

Doha has experienced difficult economic crises as a result of its wrong political decisions, and Tehran, which is under an economic blockade as a result of its nuclear program, found this an opportunity to find a financial way out for it.

This appeared on several occasions, as Iranian banks took advantage of this and worked to find banking relations between them and Qatar National Bank, the largest Qatari bank founded in 1964, which is evidence of the strong economic relations between the two parties.

The trade exchange between the two countries increased to 5 billion dollars after it was only about one billion, in addition to discussing the two parties to achieve economic exchanges between the two countries in the currencies of the countries of the region without the main currencies of them.

In addition to the signing of a trade agreement by Turkey, Iran and Qatar, November 2017, in the Iranian capital, Tehran, to facilitate the transportation of commercial goods and economic transit between the mentioned countries.

Military relations

News about negotiations to build an Iranian military base in Doha will be brought to the surface, to be used in defense of Qatar in the event of a military attack.

The Iranian Al-Alam channel, through its official account, posted a tweet on June 2017, in which it said: “The Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, discussed with the Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani, the possibility of establishing a military base in Doha, with the aim of enhancing the security and stability of the region.”