Alwaght- Qatar foreign minister said Doha will maintain relations with Iran and Hamas, defying calls Saudi-led Arab states to sever ties with the two.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told RT Arabic on Saturday during a visit to Moscow "As far as our relations with Iran are concerned, everyone wants positive relations with Iran. Iran is a neighbor".
"The strategic choice of all countries is to maintain dialog with Iran", the top Qatari diplomat said, adding "we, in the state of Qatar, support these efforts."
Qatari foreign minister also stressed that Arab nations consider Gaza-based Hamas a "legitimate resistance movement" and not a "terrorist organization as viewed by the US.”
"Hamas' presence in Qatar doesn't mean there's support for Hamas in Qatar …. Hamas' presence is a political representation of the Hamas movement,” he said, adding, “We do not support Hamas, we support the Palestinian people.”
Sheikh Mohammed's remarks comes as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE, Bahrain severed ties with Qatar and imposed sanctions on the resources-rich country in order to make the nation's emir retreat from his remarks, published on Qatar's state-run news agency, that Iran plays a stabilizing role in the region and Hamas is “the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people."
Doha later said its state media which published the statements had been hacked, but the Saudi-led Arab states rejected the denial as untrue and broke off relations with Qatar and suspended all land, air and sea traffic with the monarchy.
Qatari foreign minister said "an information campaign to demonize Qatar has started all of a sudden" by leveling "groundless and improvised" accusations against the monarchy.
"If there are clear claims, they would have better been discussed at the table. Before taking any measures, Qatar should have been given a chance to answer the accusations," he pointed out.
The Saudi-led campaign to isolate Qatar has escalated tensions and deeply divided the region. Turkey has sided with Qatar in the dispute and sent troops to the Persian Gulf country amid reports of a possible military action by Riyadh.
On Saturday, Bahrain's Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifah paid a visit to Turkey but there was no immediate word on the purpose of the trip or the content of talks.
Saudi-Qatar row could end in war
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel has warned that a row between Qatar and its Arab neighbors of the Persian Gulf region could end in a war.
Gabriel said in comments published on Saturday that there was still an opportunity for Qatar and the leading members of the [Persian] Gulf Cooperation Council to defuse tensions, otherwise, he said, the threat of war between them loomed large.
"There is a danger that this dispute could lead to war," Gabriel said in an interview with German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.
The top German diplomat regretted a “dramatic” harshness in relations between Qatar and Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
Gabriel said he had personally held meetings with counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey this week while speaking by phone with the foreign ministers of Iran and Kuwait to highlight Germany’s concern regarding the Qatar dispute.
“After my talks this week, I know how serious the situation is, but I believe there are also good chances to make progress,” he said.
