Iranian Official: Severing Ties with Qatar Indicates Arab States’ Fragility


Iranian Official: Severing Ties with Qatar Indicates Arab States’ Fragility

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Political Deputy of Iran’s Presidential Office Hamid Aboutalebi reacted to a decision by Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates on Monday to sever diplomatic ties with Qatar, saying the move proved the governments’ fragility in the face of  “a tiny country”.

“Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE, and Bahrain that are so fragile in the face of a tiny country, have no way except democracy inside (their countries) and dialogue in the region,” Aboutalebi said on his Twitter account on Monday.

The era of tribes has come to an end, he added in his tweet, referring to the government structures in certain Arab states in the Middle East.     

The rifts in the Saudi-led coalition is “the first outcome of the sword dance in Riyadh”, the Iranian official noted, pointing to a recent visit to Saudi Arabia by US President Donald Trump, during which he and other White House officials bounced along to a ceremonial Saudi sword dance.

Bahrain was the first state to make an announcement about severing diplomatic ties with Qatar. According to the official statement published by the Bahrain News Agency, Manama's move has been motivated by what it called Doha's persisting attempts to destabilize the situation in Bahrain.

"Due to the insistence of the State of Qatar in further destabilizing security and stability in the Kingdom of Bahrain and interference in its affairs, continuing the escalation and incitement media and supporting armed terrorist activities… the Kingdom of Bahrain announces the severance of diplomatic relations with the State of Qatar," the statement read, Sputnik reported.

Bahrain gave Qatari diplomats 48 hours to leave the territory of the kingdom. Also, Manama suspended air and sea communication with Doha and banned citizens of Qatar from visiting Bahrain, and prohibited its citizens from living and visiting Qatar.

Minutes later, Riyadh, Cairo, and Abu Dhabi made similar statements while Saudi Arabia and Egypt also suspended air and sea communication with Qatar.

"The Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt has decided to sever diplomatic relations with Qatar because of the continued hostility of the Qatari authorities towards Egypt," the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said.

Simultaneously, the Saudi-led coalition has announced the cancellation of the Qatari participation in the military operation in Yemen citing Doha's support of al-Qaeda and Daesh (ISIL or ISIS) terror groups.

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