Roundtable with H.E. Dr. Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi, Minister of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar

On October 23, 2026, the Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA) hosted a roundtable with H.E. Dr. Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar. Participants from the Japanese side included Kenichiro Sasae, President of JIIA; Nobumasa Akiyama, Director of the Center for Disarmament, Science and Technology; and Tsukasa Uemura, Special Envoy for Middle East Peace. Also participating were Shuji Hosaka, Senior Researcher at the Research Innovation Center of Waseda University; Koji Horinuki, Exective Researcher at the Middle East Research Center of the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan (IEEJ); and Hiroyuki Suzuki, Project Associate Professor at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Tokyo.

During the roundtable, Minister Al-Khulaifi outlined Qatar’s efforts to advance its mediation diplomacy and exchanged views with the Japanese participants on the country’s diplomatic initiatives. The Japanese participants, in turn, raised questions concerning the potential implications of elections in the United States and Israel, among other issues. The meeting provided a valuable opportunity for a candid and substantive exchange of views on Qatar’s mediation efforts and the broader regional and international context.