Qatar is open for dialogue to resolve the Gulf crisis, says Sheikh Mohamed

It has been more than a year and a half since Qatar started being subjected to an illegal siege by four neighbouring nations.

While Qatar has always called for negotiations to end the siege, the blockading nations have resorted to unjust demands.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs HE Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani reiterated Qatar’s stand about being open for dialogues to resolve the Gulf crisis, reported Gulf Times.

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Sheikh Mohamed said Qatar has been calling on blockading countries to sit at the negotiation table to discuss the causes of the crisis and work to resolve it.

He said Saudi and Emirati leaders should pay attention to the Gulf issue because it is integral to the region’s security. He also called the GCC a successful model for supporting the region’s stability.

“We in the region have developed a brilliant model called the GCC — and that was a cornerstone of stability in the region, despite the differences of opinion with our neighbours Saudi and the UAE. But now the regional security is under threat as there’s no dialogue,” Sheikh Mohamed was quoted as saying by Qatar Tribune.

The GCC had gone through periods of disagreements and differences over the last few years, but they had not reached such a level. 

“We’ve been separated from each other, and this stems from a change in the attitudes of new leaders,” he said.

He said Qatar was ready for dialogue during the Gulf Summit in Kuwait, but the blockade countries were not, and they sent a low-level delegation to the summit.

He added that the invitation to Qatar to attend the recent Gulf Summit in Riyadh was from the GCC Secretary-General and not from the host country. He cited that as a reason for Qatar’s lower participation.

About the relations with Iran, he said: “We haven’t built an alternative alliance to replace the GCC. Iran is our neighbour. We’ve always shared a large part of a gas field. It isn’t like a new thing after the crisis. We share borders with them, and this is geography.”