Manama: Qataris believe that the leaking of the US diplomatic cables is part of a ploy to exacerbate tension between Iran and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a Qatari daily reported.
"It is all deliberate. We can clearly see through the ploy," Dr Mouza Al Malki, a Qatari psychologist, said.
"The idea of the so-called leaks is to further intensify tension between Iran and the GCC," she said, quoted by The Peninsula on Tuesday.
The leaks have already been touted by Israel as a "public relations coup". Columnists in Israeli papers had a field day as the on-the-record conversations showed Arab neighbours just as frightened as the Jewish state by a nuclear Iran.
However, according to The Peninsula, "the so-called expose by the much-touted whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks involving Iran and three GCC states do not have many takers in Qatar."
People suspect that the US could be behind the so-called large-scale leakage of its classified diplomatic communication with some sinister motive.
While it is apparent that Tehran is the main target of these "well-thought-out and conspiratorial" disclosures, three GCC entities known not to have cordial relations with Iran have been dragged into the controversy, Qataris said.
Al Malki said that since Iranians are present in large numbers in Saudi Arabia and other GCC states, Iran would never attack the Gulf region
Suspicion
"What lends more credence to public suspicion about the leak drama is the fact that Egypt, where the US has been openly screaming against corruption, is out of the entire expose episode," the daily reported, quoting unnamed Qataris.
"And the fact that the US administration, including the US Embassy in Doha, has instantly and sharply reacted to the entire drama to convince people around the world that the leaks are genuine, creates more suspicion of the whole thing being fake," the paper said.
