UAE minister Gargash: Qatari-Iranian rapprochement no longer ‘hidden’

UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said on Tuesday that the Qatari-Iranian rapprochement was no longer hidden.

“The Qatari-Iranian communication is at its highest levels. The harmony in proposals and opinions as reported by the Iranian Mehr news agency today is not surprising but it only (reflects) that this harmony is no longer hidden (and has become) exposed. It’s an ambiguous opportunist orientation in supporting the Houthis (in addition to) other stances, and perhaps it does not voice the citizen’s convictions,” Gargash said on Twitter.

“I do not think the Qatari citizen is satisfied with his government’s support of the Houthis or rapprochement with Tehran. Before, he did not accept his country’s normalization with Israel or relations with Hezbollah. The leadership’s ambiguous political orientations are responsible for the Qatari citizen’s isolation from his surrounding,” he added.   

Phone call to Rouhani 

According to the Mehr news agency, Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani spoke with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on the phone on Monday on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr.

In the telephone call, the Qatari Emir said he reiterated that relations between Doha and Tehran were “developing on a daily basis,” while Rouhani voiced hope that “Tehran and Doha can benefit from the capabilities available for commercial and economic ties between the two countries.”