nuclear deal

The attacks killed at least 36 people and wounding dozens.

Stepped-up rebel shelling and government airstrikes came just a few hours before Mohammad Javad Zarif arrived in Damascus, where he discussed a four-point proposal Iran wants to offer to the United Nations as a way out of Syria's grinding conflict.

Foreign Minister Khalid al-Attiyah made the comments in a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press that also touched on the controversy surrounding Qatar's hosting of the 2022 World Cup and allegations of Doha's links to Islamic militant groups.

Al-Attiyah spoke from a skyscraper office overlooking the rapidly developing Qatari capital, Doha, a day after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council in Qatar. 

Speaking for the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council, Qatar's foreign minister said Monday that the bloc had been pleased by a presentation of the agreement from U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. 

On that basis, he said the council welcomed the deal.

Kerry had come to Doha seeking to ease concerns about the regional implications of the deal. 

Kerry arrived in the Qatari capital on Sunday after visiting Egypt, where he also spoke in favor of the agreement reached with Iran last month in Vienna. 

The Sunni-ruled Gulf Arab states fear Shiite Iran's increasing assertiveness in the region. In Cairo, Kerry acknowledged Iran's negative role but said it would be easier to deal with if Tehran cannot develop a nuclear weapon.