Qatar will not alter its relations with Iran and Turkey in a sign that it has made few concessions after securing a deal with Saudi Arabia and its allies to end a bitter dispute between the rival Gulf states.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, the Qatari foreign minister, told the Financial Times that Doha had agreed to co-operate on counter-terrorism and “transnational security” with Saudi Arabia and three other states that had imposed a regional embargo on Qatar. But he said “bilateral relationships are mainly driven by a sovereign decision of the country . . . [and] the national interest”.
“So there is no effect on our relationship with any other country,” he said in an interview.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cited Doha’s ties to Iran and Turkey, as well as its support for Islamist movements, as core reasons for their extraordinary decision in 2017 to cut diplomatic and transport links with Qatar.
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