TEHRAN -- President Ebrahim Raisi will travel to Qatar alongside a high-ranking delegation on Monday with the aim of deepening relations between the two countries on a variety of levels.
Over the years, the countries have talked about how to use surplus electricity from Qatar by swapping with countries such as Pakistan or Afghanistan and connecting Iran and Qatar electric grids undersea. This was reported back in 2020 and 2021.
“The visit comes at the official invitation of Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani,” official news agency IRNA reported.
During the visit, the Iranian president will witness the signing of several agreements and memoranda of understanding between Tehran and Doha.
The meetings will include talks with Iranians who live in Qatar and also businesspeople.
During his visit, Raisi will also attend a three-day summit of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum set to start Sunday in Qatar.
When it comes to energy diplomacy relations between Iran and Qatar, everyone’s mind is drawn to joint capacities in the field of natural gas, while one of the largest joint energy projects between the two countries has been defined in the field of electricity.
This means they may discuss connecting the electricity networks of Iran and Qatar, which is definitely “on the agenda of the government of the two countries.
The connection of Iran-Qatar power grid in order to improve the reliability of the power grid of the two countries is an issue that has been on the agenda since last year.
There are many other issues the countries may discuss as well. There will be representatives of various sectors, such as sport, energy and culture.
This will be Raisi’s fourth foreign trip since taking office in August last year. The president has so far visited Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Russia.