Tuesday, Aug 29, 2017

Dubai: Qatar Emir Shaikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani was planning to withdraw his country from the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council, an Iranian newspaper said yesterday.

However, his consultants advised him to bide his time before making such a move, the paper said, quoting former Iranian Ambassador to Qatar Abdullah Sehrabi.

“According to news coming out of Qatar, Shaikh Tamim was intending to withdrew from GCC, but his advisers suggested to take his time,” said Sehrabi in statements published in the Persian language newspaper of Jaam-e Jam.

Shaikh Tamim was considering the move at the beginning of the Qatari crisis in June, when Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE and Egypt cut their diplomatic relations with Doha over its foreign policies and its support to terrorism.

Doha recently announced the return of its ambassador to Iran, in a move that was harshly criticised by the Arab countries as a provocative measure.

The Qatari Embassy functioning in Iran “comes within the stability of Qatar’s national security,” said Sehrabi, who described the return of the Ambassador as “a constructive move”. Sehrabi’s statements were carried by the Saudi-owned pan-Arab newspaper of Al Hayat.

Gulf News Report

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