A Saudi-led economic blockade on Qatar is pushing it closer to Iran, the Persian Gulf state’s foreign minister said. “They said Qatar was close to Iran. By their measures they are pushing Qatar toward Iran,” Middle East Eye quoted Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani as saying in Paris on Monday. “They are giving Iran, or any regional force, Qatar like a gift. Is that their objective: to push one country, a [P]GCC member state, towards Iran? This is not a wise objective,” he added. The foreign minister noted that Qatar still had political differences with Iran, including over Syria. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt cut political and trade ties with Qatar on June 5, calling on Doha to stop supporting groups they regard as terrorist and restrict ties with Tehran. They suspended air, sea and land links with Qatar. Qatar has resisted the pressure by these four Arab countries, which it has described as an attempt to impose guardianship on the small emirate. After the standoff, Turkey deployed more troops at its base in Qatar, which was established on the basis of an agreement signed in 2014. Iran and Turkey became two major suppliers of Qatar’s food imports after the quartet severed ties with Doha and Iran allowed Qatar to use its airspace.
