AMIR OF QATAR VISITS AHMADINEJAD IN TEHRAN

S E C R E T DOHA 000660 SIPDIS NOFORN E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/04/2019 TAGS: PREL QA IR SUBJECT: AMIR OF QATAR VISITS AHMADINEJAD IN TEHRAN REF: DOHA 538 Classified By: Ambassador Joseph E. LeBaron, for reasons 1.4 (b, d). ¶1. (U) A delegation headed by the Amir of Qatar, Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, who was accompanied by Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, visited Tehran November 5 for a day-long visit. According to press reports from both Qatar and Iran, the Amir and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad planned to discuss "bilateral ties and regional issues of common concern." This would be the latest in a series of meetings (reftel) that have occurred between senior Iranian and Qatari officials since the disputed Iranian presidential elections of June 12. ¶2. (C) Diplomats accredited to Qatar, who gathered over a farewell lunch November 5 in honor of the Algerian Ambassador, speculated that the Amir's visit, which comes within a week of earlier talks between Qatar's Prime Minister and Iran's Foreign Minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, was designed to lay the groundwork for discussions later this month in Doha of GCC foreign ministers. ¶3. (S/NF) MFA Director for GCC Affairs Yousef Al-Jaber told P/E Chief Rice October 29 that the November meeting of GCC foreign ministers in Doha would not/not broach security issues concerning Iran. However, he left the door open that non-security discussions pertaining to Iran could take place in Doha. According to Al-Jaber, though, Qatar's Prime Minister would table a plan at a November 16 GCC meeting in Kuwait (NFI) for discussion on Iran's nuclear portfolio. ¶4. (C) COMMENT: Like our diplomatic colleagues in Doha, we can only speculate as to what the discussions of November 5 in Tehran entailed, but it strikes us as entirely possible, given the working relationship that Qatar maintains with Iran driven by the large natural gas reserves the two countries share, that the Amir's meeting with Ahmadinejad focused on issues related to the upcoming GCC meetings. LeBaron