Qatar has urged Iran and the US to meet and find a compromise to de-escalate tensions in the region, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told reporters on Sunday, according to Reuters.
Speaking in London, he said: “We believe that at one point there should an engagement – it cannot last forever like this. Since they are not willing to engage in further escalation, they should come up with ideas that open the doors.”
He said Qatar along with other countries like Oman, Iraq and Japan had been urging de-escalation. “All these countries are concerned what escalation could lead to. There were attempts by Qatar and by other countries in the region to de-escalate the situation. We have been speaking to the US and we have been talking to the Iranians as well. What we are trying to do is really to bridge the gap and create a conversation between the two parties as escalation is not going to benefit anyone in the region,” he said.
Sheikh Mohammed said on the ongoing Gulf crisis, one of the parties has been aiming for a zero sum game and there has been no change. “When you have one of the parties aiming for a zero sum game, nothing will change.”
On the Middle East peace plan, he said there was a disconnect between the Palestinians and the US over an American blueprint aimed at ending the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. “As far as we see, right now there is a disconnect between the Palestinians and the US. Our position remains very firm: We are going to support any plan that the Palestinians are willing to accept.”
He said: “It (the plan) cannot be a solution like a sort of, imposed on the Palestinians – no country in the Arab world can accept that. If the plan is rejected by one of the parties it means the plan is either unfair or just not realistic. The best scenario is either that both parties accept it or that both parties reject it.”