GULF CRISIS: IRAN’S FOREIGN MINISTER ZARIF TO VISIT QATAR

MUSCAT: Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was scheduled to visit Qatar on Monday, officials said, for talks on relations between Tehran and Doha that have caused tensions in the Gulf.

Zarif held talks with officials in Oman on Monday before heading to Doha on his first visit to Qatar since Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE and Egypt cut ties with Qatar in June.

The four countries accuse Qatar of backing extremism and fostering ties with their Shia rival Iran, charges that Doha denies.

Oman, a tiny sultanate across the water from Iran, has traditionally had closer ties with Tehran than its neighbours and has maintained relations with Qatar throughout the crisis.

Zarif’s talks in Muscat covered “energy, the economy and transit” and the potential “transfer of Iranian gas through the Sultanate of Oman to India,” according to the official Oman News Agency.

Zarif is due to meet Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani and Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghassemi said talks would focus on relations in the Gulf, economic cooperation and the latest developments in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.

Speaking in Paris last week, the Qatari foreign minister said moves by Qatar’s rivals, including the cutting of trade and transport links, were actually pushing Doha into closer ties with Tehran.