In an interview with Sputnik, Qatari political analyst Ali al Hil said that Doha does not want any war to break out in the region, be it a direct conflict between America and Iran or through proxies, because this is fraught with numerous economic and political problems.
“Everyone needs stability in the region, including the US since many American gas companies are currently at work in Qatar,” he added.
“The situation around Iran is similar to what now exists around Korea. The US believes that Pyongyang has nuclear, hydrogen and even more dangerous bacteriological weapons, that’s why it has stopped calling for war and is now talking about the need for a more balanced approach.
He also mentioned the 2022 World Cup in Qatar as another reason why Doha is trying to avoid a new spiral of tensions in the region.
“The US managed to put a damper on the crisis with North Korea, then why can’t it do the same with Iran?” he wondered.
Said al Lawandi, an expert with the Al Ahram Center of Strategic and Political Studies in Cairo, pointed to the currently close relations between Qatar and Iran and the presence of an Iranian military contingent in the Gulf kingdom.
“Doha will keep up pressure on Washington in a bid to end the state of political isolation Iran is now in,” he noted.
Saudi political scientist Abdel Rahman al Tariri warned against seeing too much into Qatar’s decision to join the “Turkish-Iranian camp” though.
“This does not indicate any clear-cut change of priorities by Doha, whose policy of the past two years has been pretty ambivalent,” the expert noted.
READ MORE: Lavrov Props Iran Nuclear Deal, Laments Brash US Policies at Annual Press Event
