Iran, Turkey, Qatar to boost trade amid Saudi-led blockade on Doha
Iran, Turkey and Qatar signed a trilateral agreement aimed at boosting trade with Doha amid a Saudi-led blockade on the Persian Gulf emirate.
Iranian Minister of Industry, Mine and Business Mohammad Shariatmadari, Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci and Qatari Economy Minister Ahmed bin Jassim Al Thani signed the deal in Tehran, Press TV reported on Monday.
The measure would facilitate the process of transiting goods among the three countries, by tackling obstacles created to economically isolate Doha.
Under the agreement, Iran will be the transit country between Turkey and Qatar.
Earlier, Shariatmadari announced Qatar was eager to expand ties with the Islamic Republic in all areas as a result of the current conditions that the Saudi-led blockade against it had created.
Back in June, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates imposed a trade and diplomatic embargo on Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism, an allegation strongly denied by the emirate.
The Saudi-led bloc presented Qatar with a list of demands, among them downgrading ties with Iran, and gave it an ultimatum to comply with them or face consequences. Doha, however, refused to meet the demands and said that they were meant to force the country to surrender its sovereignty.
Saudi policies have divided the Persian Gulf states by “attacking Qatar without an exit strategy,” Qatar’s Foreign Minister Mohammad bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said recently in London.
“It has all been counterproductive to the stability of the region,” he said.
The World Trade Organization agreed to hear Qatar’s complaint against the UAE over the blockade.
Qatar turned to the WTO in August, insisting it was the victim of an “illegal siege”.
Since the crisis erupted, Iran and Turkey have sought to help break the blockade, including by increasing food exports to the emirate.