00:00Qatar says it continues to back Pakistan's ongoing efforts to broker a deal between the United States and Iran.
00:06This comes as Gulf leaders gather in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for their first face-to-face meeting since the
00:12war began,
00:13with the escalating standoff over the Strait of Hormuz high on the agenda.
00:18Qatar says the Gulf states are engaging with everyone now for the reopening of the strait.
00:22In Doha, foreign ministry spokesperson Dr. Majid Al-Ansari says Qatar is pushing for a wide-ranging deal to end
00:29the war.
00:29Adding that using a critical maritime choke point as a political bargaining chip is unacceptable.
00:35We want a comprehensive deal that would address the interests of all the peoples in the region,
00:39including the Iranians and our people and the concerns of the international community regarding Iran.
00:45We also know that peace is incremental.
00:47Any deal that would, first of all, maintain the ceasefire, which is a positive trajectory for us.
00:54Answering a question from Euronews, Al-Ansari also confirmed Doha's participation in the UK and France-led talks on the
01:01opening of the Strait of Hormuz.
01:03We are supportive of all and every international effort that would lead to a diplomatic solution
01:08and that would lead to the opening of the Strait and to securing the Strait in the future.
01:15But we are still in preliminary talks, of course, with all these parties, with our regional partners.
01:20But we applaud our partners in Europe for taking the lead on this.
01:25And as I said, we attended, represented by our Minister of State, and we are continuing to engage with them
01:31on that.
01:31However, we have made it very clear that we will not be used as political punching bags in this war,
01:36that any attack on our sovereignty cannot be justified by any means,
01:40and we have taken all the necessary precautions to make sure that we are safe from this aggression that has
01:45come to our country.
01:47Al-Ansari says there is no need to expand the circle of negotiations,
01:51and Qatar continues to support Pakistan-led mediation efforts.
01:55Adil Haleen, Euronews, Doha.
Comments