Sat Jun 29, 2013 19:46:02
Iran Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has left Tehran for Doha to discuss major regional developments with Qatari officials, especially the ongoing Syria crisis.
During his short visit to the Persian Gulf kingdom, the top Iranian diplomat will meet with Qatar’s new ruler Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to congratulate him on his ascension to power.
Salehi will elaborate on Iran’s viewpoints on the peaceful settlement of Syria unrest and discuss the development of bilateral relations with the new Qatari Emir.
He will also confer with high-ranking Qatari officials on major regional developments, in particular the Syria crisis.
Foreign-sponsored militancy in Syria, which erupted in March 2011, has claimed the lives of many people, including large numbers of Syrian soldiers and security personnel.
During a press conference with his Tajik counterpart, Hamrokhon Zarifi, in Tehran on June 26, Salehi expressed hope that the new Qatari ruler would revise the Persian Gulf state’s policy toward Syria.
“We hope that the new Emir would pay special attention to the Syria issue and seriously reconsider [his country's] past policies” so that peace and stability would return to Syria and the Syrian people are saved from the ongoing suffering and bloodshed,” Salehi said.
On Tuesday, Qatari ruler Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani officially abdicated power in favor of his son, Sheikh Tamim. The 61-year-old Emir, who had overthrown his father in a coup in 1995, handed over the power to his 33-year-old son after 18 years of ruling the country.
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