Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani has called on the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states to enter negotiations with neighboring Iran in order to patch up their differences.
Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg television news network, Al Thani said the time was right for Doha to broker such talks, and that he has long called for a summit between leaders of the six-member council and Iranian officials.
He said his government was “hopeful that this would happen and we still believe this should happen.”
“This is also a desire that’s shared by other GCC countries,” the top Qatari diplomat said.
The comments come as US President-elect Joe Biden is gearing up to take the helm in the White House within the next few days. Biden has vowed during his presidential campaign that he would rejoin the 2015 Iran nuclear deal – officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – and would upend President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran that won the support of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt signed a declaration on the eve of the GCC leaders’ summit in the ancient desert city of Al-Ula, to ease a rift with Qatar, signaling the end of a three and a half year embargo of the energy-rich country.
In June 2017, the four countries accused Qatar, among other things, of supporting “terrorism” and having close ties to Iran, and severed economic and diplomatic ties. A blockade was also imposed by the four countries by land, sea and air.
Qatar repeatedly denied the claims and said there was no justification for severing relations.
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