A lawmaker welcomed a call by Qatar for an inclusive regional dialogue to settle conflicts across the Middle East, in defiance of a coalition of fellow Arab states seeking to deny Iran a role in any peace process.
"The differences need to be addressed around a regional table of negotiations," Alireza Ebrahimi said, citing a trilateral initiative, involving Iran, which proved critical to a campaign to dislodge the self-styled Islamic State terrorist group from Syria.
"The regional coalition between the Islamic Republic of Iran, Russia, and Turkey restored stability to Syria, despite foreign interventions that had caused an escalation of tensions," he said in a Monday talk with ICANA.
Iran-backed militias and Russian air power have shored up Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in his war against a patchwork of armed opposition groups that want his ouster. Turkey, along with Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies, is a member of a western-led coalition that intervened in the Syria war, now in its seventh year, in support of the opposition side. Despite its alignment with the opposite side of the war, Ankara joined Tehran and Moscow in late 2016 in sponsoring a peace process to find a settlement to the deadly conflict.
Nothing but Loss
"Some neighboring countries followed the policies of the US and the Zionist regime [of Israel], but today they have realized that they have reaped nothing but loss," Ebrahimi said, in an apparent reference to Saudi Arabia and it Arab allies.
The two sides of the Syria conflict were also engaged in a fight against IS that had run over almost two-thirds of the Arab country and neighboring Iraq in a 2014 surprise attack. The recapture of the IS last urban strongholds in Iraq and Syria last November marked the end of the self-proclaimed "caliphate".
But it by no means meant an end to the hostility between Saudi Arabia and Iran, the two regional powerhouses that have locked horns in several conflicts across the region and have not had diplomatic relations since January 2016. Qatar's cordial ties with Iran made it the target of sanctions by Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt last June.
The quartet accused Doha of supporting terrorism, a charge that it flatly denies. Iran sent several cargo planes of food to Qatar amid concerns of shortages after the Saudi-led alliance, which comprises some of Qatar's biggest suppliers, severed ties with the import-dependent country.
Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told Le Figaro newspaper in a recent interview that negotiation with Iran as an important regional player is necessary for the resolution of regional crises.
"Regional negotiations should be civilized and on the basis of respect for the sovereignty and collective security of all countries without resort to certain policies followed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates," said Al Thani, who is also deputy prime minister. The top Qatari diplomat said all countries in the region, including Iran, should be involved in negotiations to have a collective understanding and resolve regional issues such as the tension between Doha and its neighbors. Al Thani said Doha has some differences of opinion with Tehran but noted that "these issues should be identified and we have to hold talks to resolve them."
Amid efforts by Washington to try to resolve a dispute between the Persian Gulf neighbors, senior Saudi, Emirati, and Qatari leaders will meet with US President Donald Trump in the next couple of months, Reuters reported on Saturday, citing US officials. Tehran has called for the sides to overcome their differences.
