00:00Meanwhile, Iran continues to pound targets in the Gulf region.
00:03One person was killed this Tuesday in Abu Dhabi from falling debris after an Iranian missile was shot down.
00:09Two medical personnel were injured in a similar incident in Kuwait.
00:13Now, Iran has been targeting military sites, but also civilian targets in the region,
00:18including residential buildings, hotels and airports.
00:21For more, we can cross to our correspondent in Doha, Hoda Abdel Hamid.
00:25Hoda, let's start with the apparent death of Ali Larajani.
00:30What was his relationship with the Gulf Corporation Council,
00:33especially with Qatar and Oman, who were acting as mediators just before the start of this war?
00:41I think he was key, really, to Iran's outreach to this region.
00:45The backdrop of this is that the GCC and Iran were two parties deeply suspicious of each other,
00:53both ideologically and strategically.
00:56It took decades, really, for them to get close to it, to close to each other.
01:01And Larajani played a big role in that, especially with Saudi Arabia,
01:06that is considered the power when it comes to the GCC area.
01:12It's only back in 2023 that the two countries opened embassies in each other's capital.
01:17And Larajani made a significant visit last year, 2025.
01:23He met with Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.
01:28So things took as long as that for the two sides to actually have significant talks.
01:34Now, when it comes to Qatar and Oman, he viewed these two countries as useful channels for mediation
01:42and for the nuclear negotiations, they were often contacts.
01:47He came here a lot to Doha, and Qatari officials went to Iran.
01:54So certainly there was a relationship.
01:56And you know, when these kind of negotiations happen, there's also a personal relationship
02:00that builds up between the two sides.
02:05So he was a very pragmatic person.
02:08And according to officials I spoke to, he said it was easy.
02:12He was easy to talk to.
02:14And the differences between them were being combed out simply because there was an open conversation
02:22that was flowing between the two sides.
02:25Well, Sohota, where does this leave the diplomatic efforts of the Gulf countries at this stage?
02:33Well, I think they'll wait and see, first of all, who is going to replace him.
02:39I heard, you know, we were just talking about the fact that the structure in Iran is always
02:44made for the fact that there's going to be a second, a third, a fourth person ready to
02:49fit in.
02:50But that's not enough.
02:51You need to have the personality for it.
02:53There needs to be that chemistry for, you know, different delegations to sit together
02:59and to be able to tackle very difficult fights, to trust each other, and to try to bring some
03:07sort of breakthrough.
03:08So I think at this moment, they will wait and see.
03:11Now, the backdrop to all of this is that there is daily attacks on these countries.
03:17In the last 24 hours, we had four waves of attacks in Qatar alone.
03:22We, you know, and then the rest of the GCC, there's also been several attacks.
03:28So at the moment, the GCC countries are extremely angry with Iran.
03:33They feel betrayed.
03:35So it's going to take a long time, really, to, for them to want to, especially for Qatar
03:42and Oman, may I add, to want to reopen and re-trust Iran.
03:47That's the biggest problem at this stage for the GCC countries, especially we heard that
03:53over and over again from the Qatari prime minister, that, you know, there is a sense
03:59of betrayal.
04:00There is this trust that was between these two sides, this sort of entente that was between
04:07the two sides has been broken.
04:08So they will wait and see who is the new person appointed, what is his character, and then
04:15from there, they will try to push, you know, push it further, because at the end of the
04:21day, there is a belief that nothing will work, no military campaign will work, only the diplomatic
04:27track could eventually bring some stability to this region.
04:31We'll have to leave it there.
04:33Our correspondent in Doha, Hoda Abdelhamid.
04:35Hoda, thanks so much.
04:36We appreciate it.
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