Iranian Security Official In Qatar To Deepen Ties

Iran's Deputy Interior Minister Majid Mirahmadi has held talks with Qatari officials in Doha to expand security cooperation between the two countries.

According to the IRGC-affiliated Fars News Agency, the two sides discussed security and law enforcement cooperation and holding of a joint security commission in Iran.

The release of Iranian fishermen and their boats, which Iran claims had entered the waters of Qatar due to ignorance of border limits, was raised, and the Qatari side agreed to their release. Bilateral solutions to tackling drug smuggling in the area were also discussed.

Iran and Qatar signed several bilateral deals last year during a visit by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to Doha to attend the Gas Exporting Countries Forum. Raisi's visit was the first to Qatar by an Iranian president in 11 years.

Qatar has strong ties with Iran, with which it shares a giant gas field. Tehran supported Doha after Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies imposed a boycott on Qatar in mid-2017 in a dispute over its links with Islamist groups and with non-Arab Turkey and Iran.

Recent restoration of diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran signaled a new policy by the Persian Gulf Sunni Arab states for closer regional cooperation.

A deal brokered by China in March ended a diplomatic rift between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and re-established relations following years of hostility.