Doha to return its ambassador to Iran

Qatar said it decided to return its ambassador to Tehran, more than 20 months after he was recalled in protest over the ransacking of Saudi Arabia's missions in Iran by demonstrators angry at Riyadh's execution of a Shi'ite Muslim cleric.

"Qatar announced that its ambassador to Tehran will return to resume his diplomatic duties," the Qatari foreign ministry's information office said in a statement on its website. It added that Doha wanted to strengthen ties in all fields with the Islamic republic, Reuters reported.

The information office also said that Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani discussed "bilateral relations and means of boosting and developing them" in a telephone call with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif.

Qatar recalled its ambassador to Tehran in January last year after Saudi Arabia cut ties with the Islamic republic, accusing it of failing to protect its embassy in Tehran and consulate in Mashahd against demonstrators who had ransacked them.

The Qatari foreign ministry did not say when the ambassador will return to Tehran.