ANKARA — Amid Iran's escalating attacks on Gulf energy facilities, Turkey and Qatar will take “concrete steps” to deepen defense ties, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Thursday after talks in Doha with Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.

Details: “We have agreed on advancing our relations further, particularly in the field of defense industry, through new and concrete steps,” Fidan said during a joint press conference with the Qatari prime minister, without providing further details. 

The remarks came one day after Iran hit Qatar's Ras Laffan natural gas facilities, which account for roughly 20% of global LNG supply. The Qatari Foreign Ministry subsequently declared the military and security attaches of the Iranian Embassy in Qatar "persona non grata," requesting that the two officials and their staff leave the country within 24 hours.

Both Fidan and Sheikh Mohammed condemned the attack, with the Qatari prime minister warning, “We are now trying to determine the extent of the damage, but the aggression will have massive repercussions on energy supplies around the world.”