UAE, Saudi hit back at Qatar for its statement after Makkah summits

Senior officials from the UAE and Saudi Arabia have slammed Qatar’s statement regarding the outcome of the Makkah summits held on Thursday to discuss tensions with Iran.

The summits saw the participation from Arab leaders across the region, with Qatari Prime Minister Abdullah bin Nasser Al Thani also attending. Al Thani was the first high-level official to visit the kingdom since Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt cut all ties with Qatar in 2017.

Following the summit, Qatar’s foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani expressed reservation with the statements on Iran made at the summits, saying they were not adopted using traditional procedures.

“It seems to me that the attendance and agreement at the meetings and then backtracking on what has been agreed upon is either due to the pressure on the weak, the lack of sovereignty, unclear intentions or the lack of credibility, or all of these factors may be combined,” the UAE’s minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said on Twitter.

صديق ظريف (غير جواد ظريف) علّق على تراجع قطر عن موافقتها على بيانات القمتين الخليجية والعربية بأنه من المستحسن الإنتظار حتى الغد لأن الدوحة قد تتلقى إتصالاً هاتفيا جديدا وتتراجع عن تراجعها، في المجالس الرمضانية تختلط الحكمة بالظرف أحيانا.

— د. أنور قرقاش (@AnwarGargash) June 2, 2019

Senior ministers from Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have also lashed out at Qatar for its stance after the summits.

“Everyone knows that Qatar’s distortion of facts is not surprising,” Saudi’s minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Al Jubeir said on Twitter.

“States that have reservations should express them in the meetings and within the framework of the conference, not after the meetings have ended!” he added.

2- قطر تتحفظ اليوم على بيانين يرفضان التدخل الإيراني في شؤون دول المنطقة، وبيان القمة العربية أكد مركزية القضية الفلسطينية وإقامة الدولة الفلسطينية على حدود 67 وعاصمتها القدس الشرقية.
الجميع يعلم بأن تحريف قطر للحقائق ليس مستغرباً.

— Adel Aljubeir عادل الجبير (@AdelAljubeir) June 2, 2019

Saudi Arabia has accused Iran of ordering the drone strikes on its oil pumping facilities last month. US officials have said Tehran is also responsible for the attacks on oil tankers off the coast of UAE last month.

“The absence of a firm deterrent stance against Iranian behaviour is what led to the escalation we see today,” King Salman told the two summits.

Tehran has denied any involvement.