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Tribune News Network
Doha
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al Thani has dismissed reports of threats of military action by Saudi Arabia over Doha's plans to acquire the Russian-made S-400 air defence system, saying Qatar's decision to buy weapons is a"sovereign" one.
The threats, Sheikh Mohammed said, violates"international law and all the international norms".
"The purchase of any military equipment is a sovereign decision that has nothing to do with Saudi Arabia or any other country," Sheikh Mohammed told Al Jazeera.
In a letter addressed to French President Emmanuel Macron, the Saudi King expressed his"profound concern" with talks under way between Moscow and Doha for the sale of the advanced anti-aircraft weapon system, French daily Le Monde reported on Friday.
He said, as for the message that the Le Monde newspaper mentioned, it has not been confirmed yet, and"we have contacted the French presidency and will respond within days."
"If it is confirmed that the message is true, it would be regrettable for Saudi Arabia to think in this way. It's unfortunate that they see this as destabilisation because Qatar does not represent a threat to Saudi," he added.
The FM said the threats"violate GCC charter", which says that member countries should not attack each other.
If Saudi's threats are confirmed, Sheikh Mohammed, noted his country will"respond legally ... as we are not violating international law".
"Qatar is going to treat this the same way we have treated the illegal blockade, we are going to seek all the international forums to make sure that this behaviour is not repeated," he said.
When asked if Qatar plans to go ahead with the military purchase, he said,"Qatar is evaluating its defence purchases on the basis of technical and strategic data. No decision has been taken yet on these purchases, but there is an internal evaluation process. The regional situation around us makes it possible to rearrange some of the priorities," he said.
"Qatar is a small country with many resources and it is our duty to protect our people, our state and our resources, and all our weapons programmes are defensive," he added.
Regarding the Gulf Summit, the FM said,"Washington did not officially notify us of holding a Gulf summit next September at Camp David, but the US administration is working on holding this summit."
On the relationship with America, Sheikh Mohammed said,"It is a strategic relationship and Washington is striving to contain and resolve the crisis. At every opportunity there is an American interest in putting an end to this crisis and restoring the GCC."
He said the siege has created a new crisis in the region, which is already facing many crises.
"The loss is not only for our people but for all the people and the victory we have achieved is a victory for the strength of our people and our independence, but this victory will not be complete unless unity of the GCC countries is restored."
He said currently there's no contact with the blockading countries and for the first time in history, all political, economic and even security contacts are cut off because of a political dispute.
On Turkey, he said,"We have a close relationship with Turkey. We have military and strategic cooperation with Turkey. We do not know why this relationship bothers the blockading countries."
As for Qatar's relations with Iran, he said,"We have significant differences with Iran on different regional issues. In the end, Qatar and Iran share a border. Our trade with Iran constitutes only 10 percent of the trade between the UAE and Iran. Qatar ranks fifth in the GCC in trade with Iran."
He said Qatar has chosen a civilised path in the face of all the arbitrary measures and succeeded in overcoming the impacts of the siege.
