Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, has said the war waged by the United States and Israel against Iran has had an “earthquake-like” effect on the economy of the Middle East. He said respect for the sovereignty of states was essential if security was to be assured in the region.
The Qatari prime minister also warned against a “cycle of escalation”.
Sheikh Mohammed is currently in New York in the United States to attend the session of the United Nations General Assembly. Speaking there on Sunday at the opening of an event organised by the Qatar Economic Forum, he said the region needed a “framework in which sovereignty is respected and no state can become a threat to another state”.
Sheikh Mohammed serves as Qatar’s foreign minister as well as prime minister. He described the economic impact of the United States and Israeli war against Iran as “earthquake-like”. He said its “tremors” had reached far beyond the borders of the Middle East, challenging established assumptions about security and stability.
The Qatari prime minister said: “During the crisis almost every conversation began with security and de-escalation. Then it moved on to energy supplies, shipping lanes and our investments. Our plans will also go forward. These are in fact different expressions of the same question. When so much is being disrupted, what can still be relied on?”
He claimed the country had passed the test posed by the doubts that had arisen about the “foundations” of Qatar’s economy and security during this period of crisis. He acknowledged, however, that the continuing conflict in the Middle East was also having an effect on Qatar.
Sheikh Mohammed said: “If a state is kept permanently in insecurity, then no arrangement can establish lasting security there. We have to find the sources of tension and resolve them, and build mutual trust.”
The situation in the Middle East and its global impact are expected to be discussed at length at the session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Speaking to United States media in New York on Sunday, a spokesman for Qatar’s foreign ministry, Majed al-Ansari, said efforts were continuing, with the Qatari government mediating, to restart talks between Tehran and Washington in order to end the United States and Israeli war against Iran.