Qatar has played a major role in achieving the prisoner swap deal between Iran and the United States, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
“Qatar, as a reliable international mediator, has played a major and effective role in achieving consensus between the two sides,” Majed bin Mohammed Al Ansari, the ministry’s spokesperson, said in a statement.
Al Ansari said that the “promising result” was preceded by intensive and shuttle visits by Qatari officials to Washington and Tehran as well as direct and indirect meetings with the two sides.
He said that the Qatari role was not isolated from other international efforts, as it was “synchronized with” the efforts of Oman and the European mediator.
The spokesperson said he hoped that the deal would pave the way for a return to the Iranian nuclear talks, which he believes is of great importance to Qatar and the region in general.
Iran and the United States recently reached a deal on freeing several detained citizens from each other.
