ROME: The six Arab countries that last month cut ties with Qatar have nothing to negotiate, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir said yesterday.
He told a Press conference with Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano in Rome that Doha must choose if it wants to stop funding terrorism or continue to do so.
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the UAE have said they are not providing any support to terrorism or funding terrorism and are not inciting hate speeches, he said.
Qatar has accepted eight out of 13 requests in 2014 but they were never implemented, he said.
He said it was necessary for Qatar to abide by those principles. “We don’t do it to harm Qatar,” he added, noting the step was painful but necessary to guarantee that terrorism is not supported anymore.
“Riyadh has the intention of moving forward to improve the country,” he stated, but “if we have to confront terrorism the process is complicated and for this reason we are intolerant towards terrorism and determined to work with allies, including Italy,” Al Jubeir said.
On Iran, he said Tehran “sponsors terrorism, establishes terror cells in our countries, violates international treaties and is introducing arms and explosives in Kuwait, Yemen and Bahrain to destabilise the region”.
“It’s not a matter of Sunnis or Shi’ites but of Iran trying to dominate the region. We cannot allow it,” he said, adding it is necessary to reject this aggressive attitude sanctioned worldwide.
Al Jubeir said Iran sends its Revolutionary Guard Corps to Yemen, as well as to Syria and Iraq interfering with domestic affairs and inciting sectarianism.
“Iran needs to decide whether the country represents a revolution or the nation state, because a revolution is emotional while the state is rational and until Iran decides we cannot move forward,” he said.
Qatar on Thursday announced changes to its anti-terror legislation, one of the controversial issues at the core of the crisis.
The decree from Amir Shaikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani establishes two national lists for individuals and terrorist entities and sets out the requirements for being included on them. It also defines terrorists, terrorist crimes, terrorist entities as well as the financing of terrorism.
The UAE yesterday welcomed the amendment.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the US is satisfied with Qatar’s efforts to implement an agreement aimed at combating terror financing signed last week, and he urged Arab states to lift a “land blockade” on the nation.
At the United Nations, Egypt accused Qatar of adopting a “pro-terrorist” policy that violated Security Council resolutions and described it as “shameful” that the 15-member body had not held Qatar accountable.