Iranian president says neither Qatar nor its people were targets of attack on US base in the gas-rich Gulf nation.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has expressed his “regret” to Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani over Tehran’s missile attack on a US base on Monday.
In a phone call on Tuesday with the emir, Pezeshkian noted that neither Qatar nor its population were the target of the attack on the Al Udeid Air Base, the United States base in Qatar, and that it did “not represent a threat” to the Gulf nation, the Diwan (emir’s office) said in a statement.
“[Pezeshkian] stressed that the State of Qatar will remain a neighbouring, Muslim, and sisterly state, and expressed his hope that relations between the two countries will always be based on the principles of respect for the sovereignty of states and good neighbourliness,” the statement said.
Iran launched 19 missiles at the US base, which is the largest in the Middle East, with Qatari defence forces intercepting 18 of them, according to officials from the Ministry of Interior. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had launched this “powerful and devastating missile attack” in response to the “blatant military aggression” by the US on Iran’s nuclear facilities on Sunday.
Translation: His Highness the Emir receives a phone call from His Excellency Dr. Masoud Pezeshkian, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
During the Iranian attack, a series of flares and loud explosions were observed in Qatar’s capital, Doha, as well as other areas of the country. Qatari officials confirmed that the airbase was evacuated before the attack.
According to the Diwan, the emir “reiterated Qatar’s strong condemnation” of the attack, considering it a “flagrant violation of its sovereignty and airspace”.
Iran and Qatar have long enjoyed fraternal relations, and the Qatari government has condemned both the Israeli and US attacks on Iran. But Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani spoke at a news conference on Tuesday of a “scar” to relations between Doha and Tehran that would need time to heal.
Earlier on Tuesday, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said it sent a letter to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the UN Security Council, denouncing the IRGC’s “extremely dangerous escalation” and saying the attack posed a “direct threat to regional peace and security”.
The tit-for-tat attacks between the US and Iran come amidst the conflict between Israel and Iran, which began on June 13, after the Israeli army struck multiple targets inside Iran.
Hours after the attack on the Al Udeid Air Base, US President Donald Trump announced late on Monday that Israel and Iran had agreed to a ceasefire. Nevertheless, both countries have accused each other of violating the truce.
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