Qatar rules out war between US & Iran, supports Turkey's move on Syria

Doha has good relations with Tehran, who came through when Saudi boycotted them

qatar_foreign_minister Qatar Foreign Affairs Minister Khalid bin Mohammed al-Attiyah | Wikipedia

Qatar, an ally of Washington ruled out the possibility of a war between the United States and Iran amid rising tensions in the Gulf following attacks on oil tankers.

Doha also has good relations with Tehran, that has helped it overcome a political and economic boycott by Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies over accusations the tiny kingdom backs the Islamic republic and extremists.

Qatar on Tuesday stated that it supported its ally Turkey's offensive onslaught on Syria. 

 "I don't see a war in the future between the United States and Iran," Khalid bin Mohammed al-Attiyah, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Qatar said during the Global Security Forum in Doha.

 "A war will be in no one's interest," he said.

Tensions have soared in the Gulf in recent months with a series of attacks on oil infrastructure and tankers which have raised fears of a war between the arch-rivals. Last month, two Saudi oil facilities were attacked, temporarily halving the kingdom's crude output and setting oil markets alight. While Iran-backed Houthi rebels from Yemen claimed responsibility for the attack, the US blamed Tehran. Tehran has however denied involvement and has threatened "total war" in the event of an attack on its territory.

Tensions between Iran and the US have escalated since US President Donald Trump pulled out of the international nuclear deal in 2018. The deal was meant to lift sanctions in exchange for a commitment from Tehran to curb its atomic programme. Trump, however, imposed fresh sanctions on the nation, incurring its wrath and pushing it to enrich uranium reserves to weapons-grade level

Trump administration also said it would unilaterally force all countries to stop buying Iran's oil, one of Tehran's main sources of wealth.

Tehran soon afterwards shot down an unmanned US drone.

 At the very last minute, Trump stepped back from launching a strike on Iranian assets in June saying it would cause too many casualties. 

In defence of Turkey, Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani said, “We can't put all the blame on Turkey." He added that Ankara had been forced to respond to an "imminent threat to Turkish security." 

Turkey wants a 30-km deep buffer zone along its border with Syria to keep Kurdish forces at bay. They also want to send some 3.6 million Syrian refugees back to the country. 

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