UAE: Qatar seeking protection from two non-Arab states is tragic

The UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Anwar Bin Mohammad Gargash, tweeted on Thursday that Qatar’s seeking protection from two non-Arab states - Turkey and Iran - is tragic and comical.

Gargash lambasted Qatar for seeking protection from abroad and said it was not a “solution,” adding that he “wished” the Qatari leadership would have resorted to “wisdom” and “not escalation.”

“Again, we call on [Qatar] to exercise its rationality, wisdom and get rid of its arrogance and stubbornness. Escalation won’t be beneficial, and feeling empowered due to outside support does not represent a solution, and the exit is a new discourse that is transparent and honest,” he said.

The minister said the “strangest” part is seeing the type of countries a “brother” takes sides with.

“An Iranian, Turkish, Hamas, revolutionary, political ideologue, Muslim Brotherhood, and we the Arab Gulf tries to change course of its brother.”

The minister also criticized how Qatar who is seeking protection from abroad, rejects interference in his country’s foreign policy and sovereignty,

Qatar’s foreign minister said on Thursday that “no one has the right to intervene in our foreign policy.”

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani told AFP “we are an independent country with sovereignty.”

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump is continuing to talk with all partners in the Middle East to de-escalate tensions amid an ongoing diplomatic crisis between Qatar and other Arab powers, a White House spokeswoman said on Thursday, but gave no other details.