https://www.investigativeproject.org/7959/qatar-paid-for-congressional-democrats-doha-trip
Qatar’s Washington embassy paid for six congressional Democrats to visit Doha last December, Al-Monitor reported Friday. U.S. Reps. Ami Bera, D-Calif., Andre Carson, D-Ind., and Dan Kildee, D-Mich., noted the payment in financial disclosure forms.
The office of U.S. Rep. Donald Norcross, D-N.J., told Al-Monitor it would amend its disclosure form to include the Qatari payment. U.S. Rep. James Himes, D-Conn., failed to disclose the trip. Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., received an extension until August to file his disclosure. Ben Smith of Buzzfeed, which co-sponsored the Doha Forum first acknowledged the trip in a Dec. 15 tweet.
Speakers at the Doha Forum included President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s son-in-law, and current Turkish Finance Minister Berat Albayrak; Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif; and Mutlaq al-Qahtani, who told the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) last year that Hamas was not a terrorist organization. Al-Qahtani serves as Qatar’s counterterrorism envoy.
Carson and Himes sit on the House Intelligence Committee. Bera serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Norcross is on to the House Armed Services Committee.
At the forum, the officials met with Qatar’s deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs. Qatar hosts the Al Udeid Air Base, which is home to the forward headquarters of U.S. Central Command and the headquarters of the U.S. Air Force Central Command.
Qatar is one of the biggest funders of the Muslim Brotherhood and is home to radical Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi, who has been a major force in the movement for decades. Qatari money has funded numerous terrorist groups including Hamas and al-Qaida.
and if this is true https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-06-18/declassified-sino-russian-masterplan-end-us-dominance-middle-east, what do you think the odds are that the visiting democrats attitudes helped encourage the Islamic commitment to confront their great satan six months later?
…Starting late May 2019, senior officials of both countries increased the number of bilateral visits in a concentrated effort “to find common ground in which Turkey helps Iran overcome the consequences of US sanctions”. By June 1, 2019, Iran and Turkey established a “new anti-sanction financial mechanism” with priority given to increasing the imports of natural gas and oil from Iran (with some of the oil laundered as Iraq-origin from Kirkuk). Iran and Turkey also agreed to protect mutual trade and economic ties, including the establishment of a joint bank, in the face of US sanctions. As well, both countries finalized an agreement to restart direct cargo train and passenger/tourist train services between Tehran and Ankara.
On June 8, 2019, Iranian Pres. Hassan Rouhani had a lengthy phone conversation with his Turkish counterpart, Reçep Tayyip Erdo?an. They finalized and formulated the new era in bilateral relations, ranging from economic cooperation to effecting regional dynamics.
Rouhani opened by emphasizing the importance of the expansion of relations between Iran and Turkey in the global and all-Islamic spheres. “Development of relations and cooperation between Iran and Turkey, as two powerful effective countries in the world of Islam, is important for stability and security of the region.” He pointed to the instability and bloodshed in countries such as Sudan, Libya, Yemen, and Afghanistan, and invited Erdo?an to work with Iran to resolve conflicts throughout the Muslim world. “Together, Iran and Turkey can cooperate with other friendly, brotherly countries to put an end to this regretful process and resolve the issues of the region and the world of Islam as well.” Rouhani said that Iran was most interested in markedly expanding bilateral economic cooperation, including providing highly-subsidized oil and gas to Turkey, while using national currencies in trade transactions to avoid the US sanctions.
In his response, Erdo?an largely agreed with Rouhani and reiterated Turkey’s commitment to confronting the US. Closer bilateral cooperation was a must. “As two brotherly, friendly countries, cementing of relations between Iran and Turkey can be beneficial for both nations and the region.”
