Any step to reform relations with Qatar depends on the change witnessed in the Qatari approach in dealing with the neighboring states, Bahraini Foreign Minister stressed, saying that his country is considered one of the most countries that suffered from the Qatari role during the recent period.
Bahrain’s foreign minister, keeping up the pressure on Qatar in a deepening Arab row, reiterated on Thursday a demand that Doha distance itself from Iran and stop support for “terrorist organizations.”
Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and several other countries severed relations with Doha on Monday, accusing it of supporting Islamist militants and their arch-foe Iran — charges Qatar says are baseless.
He said conditions posed by the four countries for a resolution of the crisis were “crystal clear.” “Qatar has to redress its path and has to go back to all previous commitments, it has to stop media campaigns and has to distance itself from our number one enemy, Iran,” he said.
“It has to realize its interests are with us, not with another country that conspires against us, wants to dominate and divide us. It has to stop supporting terrorist organizations, Sunni or Shiite, and its policy has to be for the benefit of its people.”
He stressed that he appreciated Kuwaiti mediation to resolve the dispute but that all options were open for his country to protect itself from Doha. In some of the strongest comments related to those efforts by a senior Gulf Arab official, Sheikh Khalid told the newspaper he doubted whether Qatar would change its behavior.
Kuwait’s ruler, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, traveled from the UAE to Qatar on Wednesday after visiting Saudi Arabia the day before to try to resolve the crisis. When asked about the future of the relations, the minister said that Bahrain wants relations between brotherly countries to be clear. He reiterated the Gulf position against any risks that might threaten it, especially after the important summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The Bahraini FM stated that the summits renewed relations between the Gulf countries and their biggest ally, the US, adding that this is the most important aspect that they will defend. He went to say that Gulf countries have a unified position and complementary relation against all threats and anything that might attempt to separate them whether internally or externally.
The minister also held the Lebanese government accountable for “Hezbollah’s” interference in Bahrain. “There should be a responsible authority as the policy of disassociation over the insulting of Arabs is not acceptable,” he declared.