Qatar emir visits Iran; rumours say to revive US-Iran talks

Dubai: Qatar Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani visited Iran on Thursday, days after Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said his government is ready for direct talks with the United States if Washington could get it a fair nuclear deal. Also, the Qatar emir talks with the US administration is scheduled on January 31, Reuters reported.

Iran President Ebrahim Raisi told Qatar's Sheikh Mohammed about the importance of strengthening relations between regional countries.

Meanwhile, Tehran's mouthpiece IRNA said that the Qatar minister's visit had no intention of setting up the 2015 nuclear deal revival talks with the US and rumours saying so are made up.

Iran is holding four US citizens as hostages, and On Sunday, US's nuclear negotiator told Reuters that revival of the deal is unlikely, pointing out the hostages' matter. On Monday, Iran said that Tehran and Washington could reach a lasting agreement on the Vienna talks and exchanging prisoners if Washington has the will, ruling out US's preconditions.

Tehran also alleged that the US is holding Iran nationals as hostages.

The US and Iran have held eight rounds of indirect talks since April 2021 on reinstating the nuclear pact. The pact which lifted sanctions on the latter was broke in 2018 during Trump's reign in the US, crippling Iran's economy. This led Iran to accumulate nuclear fuel violating the 2015 pact gradually. Now Iran has demanded the US's guarantee of no more stringent steps as well as how and when to restore the restrictions on Tehran's atomic ambitions.