ISLAMABAD – Qatar said on Sunday that it had received an invitation fromSaudi Arabia to attend emergency regional talks to discuss mountingtensions between Iran and the United States.
Riyadh had called two gatherings — one for Arab League members, the otherfor Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) regional bloc nations — after a spate ofattacks.
Several tankers in Gulf waters were targetedlinkundermysterious circumstances and a Saudi crude pipeline was hit by drone strikeslink by Yemen rebels who Riyadhsaid were acting on Iranian orders.
King Salman had invited Gulf leaders and Arab League members to summits inMakkah on May 30 but it was not stated if Qatar was also invited to theArab bloc deliberations.
*Read: Saudi Arabia calls urgent Gulf, Arab League meetings over tensionslink*
It was unclear if Qatar — subject to a Saudi-led economic and diplomaticboycott over alleged support for Iran and militant movements — would beinvited at all, with Doha initially reporting it had not received an invite.
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The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt have imposedan economic and diplomatic boycott on Qatar since June 2017 overallegations that Doha supports terrorism and is cosying up to regional foeIran. Qatar denies the charges.
Qatar’s emir “has received a written message” inviting the government tojoin the crisis talks, the government’s information office said in astatement.
The invitation was received by Foreign Minister Mohammed bin AbdulrahmanAl-Thani during a meeting with the secretary general of the GCC, it added.
Al-Thani has previously called for a “dialogue” between Iran and the UnitedStates to resolve the crisis between their countries. – APP/AFP
