Qatar’s financing of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards

July 27^th/2021

Zawia Media Publications

The Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, secretly visited Tehran for seven hours and then returned to Doha, Iranian media reported on Sunday. The visit took place on the third day of Eid al-Adha. Evidently this is not the first time that political leaders of Qatar pay visits to Iran either open or in secret. Considering the very critical situations in countries where both Qatar and Iran are highly involved like Afghanistan, Lebanon, Palestine and Israel, this particular visit and timing raises a lot of questions and concerns. The United States’ Department of State has launched an inquiry into an allegation made by the Israeli Government that Qatar’s royal family funded Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, a US-designated terrorist organization, online news media the Washington Examiner reported Friday. The Israeli government report said that a spokesman from the state department told the Washington-based news agency about the ongoing investigation, stressing that, “Qatar and the United States have a robust strategic, security and counterterrorism partnership.”

The Iranian sources that were aware of this visit ahead of time, described the visit as a very important meeting and that it was not only for offering congratulations on Eid al-Adha and to the new Iranian President Ibrahim al-Raisi. According to some sources, the Emir didn’t pay this visit only because of Eid and that is because the meeting was planned all of a sudden and at a very serious time. According to some sources, there were mainly two other more important missions for this visit a that includes: a direct wish for Ibrahim Raisi that Qatar’s support for the Revolutionary Guard will be denied through the Iranian Foreign Ministry or any other official body, after the information that reached Qatar before the Washington Examiner website was revealed was the subject of this support. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar has been sent to America to deal with the matter and the other point of discussion was: the delivery of messages of reassurance to Iran about the situation in Afghanistan and that the Taliban movement, after seizing power, would not use the Afghan lands against Iran or its policy would be hostile to Tehran. Tamim provided guarantees to the president on this issue, and it was agreed to continue strengthening the relationship between Iran and the Taliban after If Qatar has facilitated this matter over the past years. Something very unusual in this visit was the fact although the Emir’s visit was for a few hours, at the disposal of the sources, he took unprecedented security precautions.

In addition to that, the Washington Examiner contacted various ministries of the Israeli government, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and they all remained silent on the matter. Israeli governments, as a general rule, summarily reject fake news reports. The lack of a denial suggests that the intelligence is serious and was, in fact, referred to the Biden administration. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Qatari Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al Thani on Thursday and discussed the crises affecting Afghanistan, Yemen and Lebanon. The Qatari foreign minister supported US calls to promote “peace and security.”

Moreover, Qatar’s small monarchy, rich in natural gas and oil, has been embroiled in accusations that it has financed a wide range of Sunni and Shiite terrorist states and movements, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Islamic State. Rivlin’s new accusations may create new tensions between Qatar and the US, which has about 10,000 servicemen stationed at Al Udeid Air Base in the Gulf state. The Biden administration is once again facing a crisis with Qatar because the monarchy ruled by Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani has been repeatedly denounced as funding Islamic-animated terrorist movements seeking to kill Americans. Also, Qatar’s status as a suspected leading state sponsor of international terrorism could also complicate its role in hosting the World Cup in 2022.