Iran, Turkey, Qatar move to bolster trade amid Saudi-led blockade
Iran, Turkey and Qatar have signed a trilateral agreement aimed at boosting trade with Doha amid a Saudi-led blockade on the Persian Gulf sheikhdom.
Iranian Minister of Industry, Mines and Business Mohammad Shariatmadari, Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci and Qatari Economy Minister Ahmed bin Jassim Al Thani signed the deal in Tehran on Sunday.
The measure would facilitate the process of transiting goods among the three countries, by tackling obstacles created to economically isolate Doha.
Earlier, Shariatmadari announced Qatar was eager to expand ties with the Islamic Republic in all areas as a result of the current conditions that the Saudi-led blockade against it had created.
Iran’s Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade Mohammad Shariatmadari says Qatar wants the level of annual trade between the two countries to increase to as high as $5 billion from the current level of below $1 billion.
Back in June, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates imposed a trade and diplomatic embargo on Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism, an allegation strongly denied by the emirate.
The Saudi-led bloc presented Qatar with a list of demands, among them downgrading ties with Iran, and gave it an ultimatum to comply with them or face consequences. Doha, however, refused to meet the demands and said that they were meant to force the country to surrender its sovereignty.
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