Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi arrived in Doha on Monday, where he will meet Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, on the eve of a forum of gas-exporting countries being held amid the crisis between Russia and the West over Ukraine.
Qatar, which has converging interests with Iran in the gas sector and is at the same time a close ally of the United States, also supports the negotiations in Vienna to save the agreement on Tehran’s nuclear program.
The meeting between the 11 members of the Forum of Gas Exporting Countries (FPEG) takes place in a context of extreme tension that raises fears of interruption of gas supply, which has already caused a sharp rise in prices.
The Iranian president and his host, the emir of Qatar, will sign agreements and protocols of economic agreements on Monday before participating in the FPEG, which begins on Tuesday, according to the Iranian press.
The forum will bring together, in addition to these two leaders, the Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who arrived in Doha on Monday, and Keith Royley, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, as well as the Foreign Ministers or Energy Ministers of the member states of the FPEG .
This forum brings together 11 countries – Qatar, Russia, Iran, Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Nigeria, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela – which represent more than 70% of the world’s gas reserves.
These producing nations indicated that they would not be able to supply significant quantities of gas to Europe if Russia – accused by the West of preparing an offensive against Ukraine – cuts off its own deliveries in case the crisis worsens.
President Raisi has not traveled to the Gulf region since taking office last June, and this is only his fourth trip abroad.