Qatar is not serious about resolving the Gulf boycott crisis and it seems that its Emir, Shaikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, is not the actual ruler, a top UAE diplomat has said. “This is just my opinion, that perhaps Emir (Shaikh) Tamim is not fully in charge. It’s possible his parents continue to call the shots in Qatar,” UAE ambassador to the US Yousuf Al Otaiba, was quoted on Tuesday as saying in an interview with the American magazine The Atlantic.
All you need to know about Qatar Crisis
Asked if he thinks Shaikh Tamim is interested in talks with the four Arab countries that have cut their ties with Doha, Al Otaiba said: “I think there’s a possibility he might, but I don’t think his father is interested. And I strongly believe that the father is still calling the shots.”
It was also revealed on Tuesday that Shaikh Tamim had decided to withdraw his country from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), “but his advisers suggested he take more time to think about that,” according to an Iranian diplomat.
The London-based Arabic newspaper Al Hayat quoted former Iranian Ambassador to Qatar Abdullah Sehrabi as telling Iranian newspaper Jaam-e Jam that Tamim thought about that during the first week of the Arab boycott, which started on June 5.
Iran, Turkey urged to end colonial actions
Meanwhile, the UAE urged Iran and Turkey on Tuesday to end their “colonial” actions and negative role in the Syrian crisis. Speaking at a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said: “If Iran and Turkey continue the same historical, colonial and competitive behaviour and perspectives between them in Arab affairs, we will continue in this [deadened] situation not just in Syria today”.
