OFFICIAL VISITS BETWEEN QATAR AND IRAN ESCALATE,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DOHA 000538

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/16/2019
TAGS: PREL QA IR
SUBJECT: OFFICIAL VISITS BETWEEN QATAR AND IRAN ESCALATE,
MOST LIKELY AT IRAN'S POST-ELECTION REQUEST

REF: A. DOHA 454

B. DOHA 442

C. DOHA 493

Classified By: CDA Mirembe L. Nantongo for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

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(C) KEY POINTS
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-- The number of high-levels visits between the governments
of Qatar and Iran has increased in the last month. This
likely stems from Iran's desire for increased international
contacts following the controversial Iranian election earlier
this year.

-- The most recent proposed visits are by Qatar's Crown
Prince to Iran and Iran's Interior Minister to Qatar.

-- Qatar will continue its contacts with Iran to prevent any
conflict that could jeopardize trillions of dollars worth of
wealth (exploited primarily by Qatar) contained in the vast
natural gas field shared by Iran and Qatar.

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(C) COMMENTS
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-- (C) The announcement and/or holding of six high-level
meetings between Qatar and Iran in the past month is
noteworthy.

-- (C) The start of this period of heightened activity
corresponds with the global fallout from the disputed Iranian
presidential elections. Although two of these trips - by the
Iranian Speaker to Doha and by the Qatari Army Chief of Staff
to Tehran - were planned in advance of the June poll (Refs A
and B),the Iranians likely desire a closer relationship at
this time to muster whatever international support they can
in the aftermath of the disputed Iranian election.

-- (C) For their part, the Qataris see little downside from a
temporary surge in meetings with Iranian counterparts. An
uptick in contacts over this period, in the GOQ view, is a
small price to pay for the continued "working relationship"
with Iran that Qatar deems essential to its continued
unmolested exploitation of the natural gas field that sits
astride their common border.

End Key Points and Comments.


1. (U) Post has knowledge of only one high-level meeting
between Qatari and Iranian officials during 2008. This was an
August 2008 visit by Qatar's Amir, Hamad Bin Khalifa Al
Thani, to Tehran, where he met with Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad. The leaders made public statements indicating
their countries had friendly relations and expressed hope
that the bilateral relationship would expand. (Note: Not
long after that visit, Qatar's Heir Apparent, Shaykh Tamim
Bin Hamad Al Thani, explained to visiting General Petraeus
that the Amir simply believes a country must speak to its
neighbors. End note.)


2. (U) Over the past several weeks, however, contacts between
senior officials in the government of Qatar and Iran have
multiplied. A description of each of these meetings follows.



3. (C) The Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Ali Larijani,
visited Doha July 5-6 in the heat of the post-election
turmoil in Iran. Although he is one of the most outspoken
conservative critics of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, his
visit did not appear to represent a message from Qatar that
it was backtracking on its endorsement of the sanctity of
the election. It was, instead, the fulfillment of a
previously scheduled visit, according to Qatar's Crown
Prince, Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani. Tamim explained July 14 to
the Ambassador that it would have been "insulting to the
Iranians" to cancel the visit.


4. (U) On July 7, the Chief of Staff of Qatar's Armed Forces,
Major-General Hamad Bin Ali Al-Attiyah, arrived in Tehran to
begin talks on security cooperation with Iran. During this
visit, Al-Attiyah met with several high-ranking officials in
the Iranian foreign policy and defense establishments,
including the Foreign Affairs Minister Manuchehr Mottaki and
Defense and Armed Forces Logistics Minister General Mostafa
Mohammad-Najjar.


5. (C) (Note: The Qataris sought to downplay the significance
of these talks both before and after they took place. The
Chief of Staff told Ambassador in April that he was likely to

DOHA 00000538 002 OF 002


make a trip to Iran, but that the U.S. should not read too
much into it. COS Al-Attiyah later told ASD for
International Security Alexander Vershbow and A/S for
Political-Military Affairs Andrew Shapiro that he encouraged
the Iranians to take the U.S. up on its offers of engagement,
citing the President's Cairo speech as evidence of U.S.
sincerity. End note.)


6. (U) On July 27, Iran's new Ambassador to Qatar, Abdullah
Sohrabi, announced that Crown Prince Tamim would be visiting
Iran after Ramadan. The purpose of these talks, according to
Sohrabi, would be to accelerate the bilateral economic
relationship, expanding air links and opening trade centers
in each other's respective countries. The Iranian Ambassador
also declared that Tamim was now in charge of the Iranian
portfolio within the Government of Qatar (see Ref C for
Embassy's full analysis of this announcement).


7. (U) On August 15, an Iranian newspaper reported that
Iran's Interior Minister, Sadeq Mahsouli, would travel to
Qatar in the near future in order to help expand relations
between the two countries. An Iranian Interior Ministry
official was quoted as saying, "The Islamic Republic of Iran
seeks expansion of (bilateral) ties between Tehran and Doha."
According to media, the Director of International Cooperation
in Qatar's Interior Ministry, Saud Abdollah Zaid Al Mahmoud,
said Doha is also interested in more robust ties with Tehran
and indicated that a delegation from his ministry hoped to
travel to Tehran soon. The two countries will reportedly
discuss their security relationship during the visit, as well
as economic and social issues, including visa and travel
requirements and Iranian participation in trade fairs held in
Qatar.


8. (U) On August 17, an Iranian newspaper reported that
Iranian and Qatari frontier guards began a three-day meeting
on maintaining security in the Persian Gulf in Tehran. The
head of Iran's border contingent reportedly said the Gulf
neighbors will sign an agreement addressing such issues as
combating piracy at the conclusion of the meeting.


9. (U) On August 18, a local English-language newspaper
reported that Chief of Staff Al-Attiyah conferred with the
Iranian military attache to Qatar in Doha. According to the
newspaper, they discussed bilateral cooperation between Qatar
and Iran and how it could be enhanced.
Nantongo