There are currently 87 Iranians in Qatari prisons on drug-related offences.
Two Iranian prisoners detained in Qatar will be sent to prisons back home this week, Tehran’s envoy confirmed.
The woman and young man under the age of 20 will be transported to Iran after spending time jailed in the Gulf state for drug offences.
“I am grateful to all those involved, especially the honourable prosecutor of Qatar,” Dr Hamid Dehghani wrote on Twitter on Thursday, adding that the move was facilitated between the Iranian embassy in Doha and Qatari authorities.
The latest news came after the envoy last week told IRNA that some Iranians detained in Qatar will be transferred to Iran in the near future.
“We are in the process of negotiating and agreeing with the government of Qatar, and the exact number of prisoners will be announced after it is finalised,” he said in the interview on Wednesday.
He said there are currently 87 Iranians in Qatari prisons and noted that they were all detained due to drug-related offences.
After consulting with authorities on Monday, the official met with the Iranian prisoners and spoke to Qatari prison authorities in person to learn about their issues. He said the Iranian embassy in Qatar has taken good measures to exchange and transfer prisoners to Iran to continue serving their sentences.
It comes after a visit by Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi to Doha, in which Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani approved the transfer of 28 imprisoned Iranians to Iran, Dehghani added.
So far, 19 Iranians who were detained in Qatar have already been sent home to serve their sentences, the official said.
In April, Dehghani announced that 17 Iranians who were detained for unintentionally entering Qatari seas had been released.
The individuals who were seized were imprisoned for entering Qatari seas “by mistake,” said Dehghani. However, the timing of the men’s arrest and the length of their confinement were not disclosed.
Qatar has in recent months received praise from Iran for its heavy diplomatic role in affairs between Tehran and Washington.
In late March, Tehran confirmed the Gulf country’s role in talks over the exchange of prisoners as well as the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal.
“Qatar is always moving in the right track and has played a role in the prisoner exchange talks and the nuclear deal,” Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iran’s Foreign Minister, told Al Jazeera.
