Al Jazeera Net learned from informed sources that the Qatari Foreign Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, started a foreign tour today, Thursday, to Iran, which also includes Pakistan, Russia and Turkey, and focuses on the Afghan file in addition to bilateral relations.
The Qatari minister has already arrived in Iran and is expected to arrive in Moscow tomorrow. The Iranian Foreign Ministry said that Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman discussed with his counterpart Hussein Amir Abdullahian, in Tehran today, bilateral relations and regional and international files, including Afghanistan.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry added that Abdullahian stressed to his Qatari counterpart the importance of supporting dialogue as a way to resolve differences between the countries of the region, and that there should be a comprehensive government in Afghanistan that includes all parts of society, and that the United States is responsible for the suffering of the Afghan people.
She added that the two sides stressed the need to develop relations between the two countries, expedite the issuance of commercial travel visas, and facilitate the movement of merchants and the private sector between Iran and Qatar.
For his part, the Qatari foreign minister said in a tweet that the aim of the meeting was to "discuss the Afghan issue and discuss developments," stressing that "the State of Qatar believes in the need for concerted international efforts and visions toward Afghanistan to ensure a complete and comprehensive solution."
Iran and the Taliban
Earlier, Iran, which shares a border with Afghanistan extending over 900 km, expressed concern about the situation in this neighboring country, and on Monday "strongly" condemned the attack launched by the Taliban on the Panjshir Valley, the last stronghold of the armed opposition against this movement It declared its "total" control of the area.
Tehran has so far refrained from criticizing the Taliban since it took control of the capital, Kabul, on August 15.
Iran's relations with the Taliban were turbulent, and Tehran never recognized the movement during the first period in which it ruled Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001, and relations between the two parties were tense, but a rapprochement began to take shape between them in recent months.
The Qatari minister's visit to Tehran comes two days after US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken visited Doha, where he obtained a new pledge from the Taliban to allow Afghans wishing to leave the country to leave without hindrance.
Last August, the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, paralleling the start of a final stage of a US military withdrawal that was completed at the end of that month.
The Taliban formed a new government, pledging that Afghan soil would not be used as a springboard to harm any other country.