Saudi FM describes Qatar crisis as very small

The Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Adel Al Jubeir has said that Qatar’s crisis is a small matter and there are more important matters to attend to. Some of the threats that Jubeir mentioned include Iran's threat to Arab national security, the fights against terrorism, the Syrian crisis, Libya, Yemen’s stability, internal development, implementing Vision 2030 in Saudi Arabia and reform. 

Jubeir stressed that "we need not to concern ourselves with the Qatari subject." Speaking to editors of Egyptian newspapers on Sunday on the sidelines of the Arab foreign ministers meeting at the Arab League in Cairo, Jubeir said that the boycotting countries have sent a message to Qatar demanding that it commits to not supporting or funding terrorism. 

Jubeir said that the Arab quartet’s demands were in six principles, however Qataris chose to deny the existence of any problem among them, we ask them to leave the denial stage behind and begin the stage of reconsideration and problem solving. 

The foreign minister also said: “We only want the best for them, they must not interfere in the internal of countries or find platforms for people who justify suicide bombings. [They must not] host individuals involved in financing terrorists – and they continue to collect money and send it terrorists and [there shouldn’t be] terrorist elements operating in Qatar, including the Muslim Brotherhood.”

Jubeir also pointed out that Qataris refer to the boycotting countries’ actions as a “siege” however, he says that a blockade means there are warplanes over Qatari airspace and warships. He continued saying that they [the boycotting countries] refer to the current state as a “ boycott .”

He noted that it has been previously said that if Qatar continues on its current path, they will not be dealing with them. Now, Qatar is doing everything except recognizing the problem, said Jubeir. Recognizing the problem is not wrong, it is positive because it is the first step towards a solution, he added.

On the other hand, Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir said that “Hezbollah” is holding Lebanon hostage and these militias can’t be allowed to operate outside the scope of law, stressing the kingdom’s support to outgoing prime minister Saad Hariri.

In a joint news conference with his Spanish counterpart Alfonso Dastis on Friday, Jubeir added that “Lebanon won’t enjoy peace until the terrorist Hezbollah is disarmed,” accusing the party of hijacking the state and hindering the work of the Lebanese government. Saudi FM noted that Hezbollah is involved in laundering money smuggling drugs.

Jubeir commended Madrid initiatives related to the Middle East crises, asserting that “both countries are keen to confront extremism and terrorism,” according to Saudi Foreign Ministry twitter account. , the Saudi foreign minister affirmed that the kingdom’s actions in the Middle East came as a response to what he called the “aggression” of Iran, hinting on a future action against Hezbollah.

“Anyway you look at it, they (the Iranians) are the ones who are acting in an aggressive manner. We are reacting to that aggression and saying, enough is enough. We’re not going to let you do this anymore”, Jubeir stated to Reuters.

He said that the kingdom was consulting its allies about what leverage to use against Lebanese militant group Hezbollah – an Iranian ally – to end its dominance. “We will make the decision when the time comes,” he said.