Wednesday, 20 January 2021_Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has welcomed his Qatari counterpart’s call for the Persian Gulf Arab countries to hold talks with Iran, saying Tehran has long demanded neighborly cooperation towards establishing a strong Middle East.
“Iran welcomes my brother FM @MBA_AlThani_’s call for inclusive dialogue in our region,” Zarif wrote in a post published on his official Twitter page late on Tuesday.
He added, “As we have consistently emphasized, the solution to our challenges lies in collaboration to jointly form a ‘strong region’: peaceful, stable, prosperous & free from global or regional hegemony.”
Iran welcomes my brother FM @MBA_AlThani_'s call for inclusive dialogue in our region.
As we have consistently emphasized, the solution to our challenges lies in collaboration to jointly form a 'strong region': peaceful, stable, prosperous & free from global or regional hegemony.
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) January 19, 2021
On Monday, Qatar called on the Persian Gulf’s Arab states to seize on the momentum of reconciliation drive in the region and patch up their differences with Iran.
In an interview with Bloomberg television news network, Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani expressed hope that a summit between leaders of the six-member Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Iran would happen.
“We are hopeful that this [summit] would happen and we still believe that this should happen. And I think this is also a desire that being shared among the other GCC countries. I just mentioned to you that there is a difference between the countries on the way how to approach such a dialogue. Also from the Iranian side. They have expressed their willingness several times to engage with the GCC countries,” the Qatari foreign minister said.