Qatar said on Sunday it has reservations about hardline statements on Iran made at emergency summits of Gulf and wider Arab states called by Saudi Arabia, becoming the second Arab country to reject the statement following Iraq, Trend reports citing Reuters.
Qatar’s foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, said statements at the summits were not adopted using traditional procedures.
“The statements condemned Iran but did not refer to a moderate policy to speak with Tehran,” he said in remarks reported by Qatar’s state-owned Al Jazeera television.
“They adopted Washington policy toward Iran, rather than a policy that puts neighborhood with Iran into consideration,” he added.
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman convened the emergency summits on May 30 to discuss drone strikes on oil installations in Saudi Arabia and attacks on four vessels, including two Saudi oil tankers, off the United Arab Emirates coast.
Qatari Prime Minister Abdullah bin Nasser Al Thani, whose country hosts the largest U.S. military base in the region, attended the summits, the most senior Qatari official to visit the kingdom since Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt imposed an economic and diplomatic boycott on Qatar in 2017. The embargo was imposed over allegations that Qatar supports terrorism and is aligning itself with regional foe Iran. Qatar denies the allegations.