Publish Date: 3 August 2024 - 16:32

Tehran, IRNA -- During a meeting in Doha, Iran's Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref and Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani called for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Aref's visit to Qatar marks his first official trip abroad in his capacity as vice president to Iran’s newly elected president Masoud Pezeshkian.

He traveled to Doha on Friday to attend the funeral of Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas's political bureau, who was assassinated in the early hours of Wednesday in Tehran.

Haniyeh was in the Iranian capital for the inauguration of President Pezeshkian, where his residence was hit by an airborne projectile in an operation carried out by the Israeli regime.

During their Friday meeting, Aref and the Qatari Emir reiterated their shared concerns over the ongoing Israeli aggression in Gaza, which has killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians and caused a humanitarian disaster.  

They also discussed Iran's call for an extraordinary meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states over the assassination of the Hamas leader.

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