Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro arrived in Qatar on an unannounced visit today, Tuesday.
And the official Qatar news agency reported footage showing Maduro being received at Doha International Airport by State Minister for Foreign Affairs Sultan bin Saad Al Muraihi.
Diplomatic sources said that the President of Venezuela, who is on a tour of the Middle East, which is a rare step on the international stage, will stay in Qatar for two days.
Maduro was in Iran over the weekend and signed a 20-year cooperation agreement with the Islamic Republic. He was in Kuwait yesterday, on Monday, and had previously visited Algeria and Turkey.
Along with Russia, China, Cuba and Turkey, Iran is one of the main allies of Venezuela. Like Venezuela, it is under heavy US sanctions.
Qatar is the main ally of the United States. But in 2014, Maduro said that Qatari banks helped them by giving them big loans when the country, dependent on oil for its income, suffered an economic collapse.