Blight of sectarianism to make Middle East insecure: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (R) and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says sectarianism is among the main blights undermining security in the Middle East, stressing the importance of adopting measures to promote peace in the Muslim world.

In a Saturday phone call with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Iranian president said Tehran attaches great significance to the expansion of relations with its neighboring countries, particularly Qatar.

"One of the principles of our foreign policy is to continue cooperation with the neighboring countries in the Persian Gulf, and we believe that we can remove the existing obstacles and strengthen brotherly bonds through firm determination," Rouhani added.

He urged regional countries to make collective efforts to establish peace and calm in the region, saying stability and security of regional countries are closely intertwined.

He stressed the importance of pursuing "moderation and wisdom" in ties among countries, saying political approaches must be applied in settling regional crises.

"Regional countries need more convergence and consultation to solve regional crises, and we are ready to cooperate in this regard," Rouhani said.

The Iranian president also pointed to the spread of terrorism in the region and said, "Our region is faced with a big challenge named terrorism, which can threaten the security of all of us and joint cooperation is the [only] way to fight it."

No obstacle can hinder Iran-Qatar ties: Al Thani

The Qatari emir, for his part, offered his congratulations to President Rouhani on his landslide reelection victory and called for further expansion of mutual relations.

The Qatari emir said that there is no obstacle in the way of bolstering Tehran-Doha ties.

He also expressed confidence that dialogue would be the sole solution to the regional issues.