Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al-Thani arrived in Baghdad today, Wednesday, to hold talks with senior Iraqi officials related to the development of bilateral relations, and ways to stabilize and calm the region.
At a press conference at the headquarters of the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Iraqi Foreign Minister Muhammad Ali al-Hakim welcomed his Qatari counterpart and praised the visit, which he described as a strategy to discuss matters of concern to the two countries and the region.
"We focused directly on easing tensions and calm in the region, and on Iraq not to be a battleground," Hakim said.
The Iraqi minister affirmed his country's position seeking calm and freedom of navigation in the Gulf, noting that he had heard from his Qatari counterpart a brief summary of Qatar's efforts to calm down the tension between Iran and the United States.
"We have largely affirmed respect for the sovereignty of Iraq on the part of all parties, and we have stressed our refusal to turn our lands into an arena of conflict and rivalries," he said.
Al-Hakim reaffirmed his country's position of rejecting and condemning the attacks that targeted targets inside Iraqi territory, and said that it was agreed to reduce tension in the region to avoid the danger of wars and the need to keep Iraq away from regional conflicts and axes policy.
For his part, the Qatari Minister of Foreign Affairs said that the region is passing through a very tense stage and all countries should strive towards calm, pointing out that Qatar is making efforts within a group of friendly countries that hope that there will be no escalation in the region.
Sources in the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the Qatari minister will also meet Parliament Speaker Muhammad Al-Halbousi, Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi and President of the Republic Barham Salih, to discuss the implications of tensions in the region, against the background of developments between the United States and Iran.
The Qatari foreign minister visited Tehran in the midst of the tension that came against the background of the assassination of the United States commander of the Quds Force in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Major General Qassim Soleimani, and during the visit, he met Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif.