His foreign minister Iran Abbas Araghtsi met today in Doha with his Qatari counterpart, amid Israeli threats against Tehran.

Qatar plays a mediating role, along with the US and Egypt, in the conflict between Israel and Palestinian Hamas in Gaza, and has recently called for an end to violence in Lebanon, where the Israeli military is stepping up operations against its ally Hezbollah. Hamas and Iran.

“Significant consultations were held between Araghchi and the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdelrahman Al-Thanion the general situation in the region and our bilateral relations,” said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghai on his X platform account.

“It is the responsibility of all states to intensify their efforts to the maximum extent to protect our region from a disaster by ending the genocide in Gaza and the aggression against Lebanon,” he wrote after the meeting.

Qatar’s foreign ministry said the talks were about the “latest developments in the region, specifically in Gaza and Lebanon”.

Mohammed bin Abdelrahman Al-Thani expressed his country’s will “to do everything possible to strengthen regional and international security and stability,” he added in a statement.

The Iranian president Massoud Pezeskian he also traveled to Qatar last week where he said his country does not seek war with Israel, while promising a “stronger response” in the event of Israeli retaliation.

Iran wants to show “to the US and Israel that its efforts to ease tensions with the Gulf countries are real and bearing fruit,” estimates Chatham House analyst Neil Killiam.

He wants to “send the message that Israel risks damaging relations with the Arab Emirates and Bahrain if it ignites a wider conflict and that relations with Saudi Arabia are warming while the prospect of a normalization with Israel recedes,” he underlines.

Riyadh began talks with the US on a possible recognition of Israel but suspended them after the start of the Gaza war, making diplomatic relations conditional on the establishment of a Palestinian state.