The second Qatar-Iran joint security committee meeting took place in Tehran on the same day as the foreign ministers of both countries held talks.
Qatar’s Minister of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mohammed Al Khulaifi, has held meetings with top officials in Iran on Wednesday over regional developments, including the situation in the Gaza Strip.
Al Khulaifi met Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, where both sides discussed ways to enhance Doha and Tehran’s relations in addition to “regional and global issues of shared concern”, according to a statement by Qatar’s foreign ministry.
Discussions over the same matters took place in another meeting between Al Khulaifi and Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs, Majid Takht Ravanchi.
“The deliberations also covered regional and international issues, especially the latest developments in the Gaza Strip and the occupied Palestinian territories, Syria and Lebanon,” the Qatari foreign ministry said.
The meetings took place amid ongoing efforts by Qatar, alongside Egypt and the United States, to reach a captives release and a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel.
The talks appeared to have gained momentum recently following a long period of stalemate ahead of the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on January 20.
Trump has continuously threatened that “all hell is going to break out” if a deal is not reached by the time he is sworn into office.
Qatar and Egypt’s mediation had resulted in a week-long truce in the Gaza Strip that lasted between November 24 and December 1 in 2023.
The talks have since stalled as Israel insisted on continuing the war in the Gaza Strip while refusing to completely withdraw from the blockaded territory.
Israel has also carried out escalatory moves over the past year, including the killing of Hamas political chief, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran over the summer and Hezbollah Secretary-General, Hassan Nasrallah, barely two months later in Beirut.
The assassinations prompted Iran to retaliate against the killings by launching a barrage of rockets towards Israel.
Israel also carried out a brutal aggression in Lebanon late last year that heavily targeted the capital Beirut.
Despite the ceasefire announced on November 27 last year in Lebanon, Israel has violated the deal more than 400 times while refusing to withdraw its troops from the southern part of the country.
Security Committee meeting
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the second Qatar-Iran joint security committee meeting took place in Tehran, according to Doha’s state news agency (QNA).
Qatar’s Director General of Public Security, Major General Mohammed Al Sulaiti, and Iran’s Deputy Minister of Interior for Security and Police Affairs, Ali Akbar Pourjamshidian, co-chaired the two-day meeting.
Both sides discussed joint coordination “and multiple avenues of security cooperation”, QNA reported.
