Qatar calls for 'serious dialogue' with Iran

Doha - Foreign Minister Khalid Al Attiyah said a "firm agreement between the major players and Iran" was the best way to resolve the issue.

Qatar's top diplomat on Tuesday called for a 'serious dialogue' with Iran in the wake of its nuclear deal with world powers, even as he blasted Tehran for continuing to support Syria's embattled government.
Foreign Minister Khalid Al Attiyah made the comments in a wide-ranging interview with the Associated Press that also touched on the controversy surrounding Qatar's hosting of the 2022 World Cup and allegations of Doha's links to militant groups.
Al Attiyah's comment came a day after US Secretary of State John Kerry met the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council in Qatar. Kerry's visit was aimed in large part at reassuring the Arab allies of America's commitment to their security in the wake of the deal, which gives Iran broad sanctions relief in exchange for guarantees it won't build a nuclear bomb.
The Gulf states have welcomed the deal despite deep-seated mistrust of Iran, that they see as increasingly assertive through its support for sympathisers and militant groups throughout the region.
Al Attiyah said a "firm agreement between the major players and Iran" was the best way to resolve the issue. And he suggested there was now scope to work with Iran on other issues too.
"We should have a serious dialogue with our neighbour, the Iranians, and ... lay down our concerns from both sides, and solve them together. Iran is our neighbour in the region. We have to live together," he said.
Qatar splits control of a vast underwater natural gas field with Iran. It has long positioned itself as a venue for mediating thorny regional conflicts, and it last week hosted a visit from Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who has made outreach to his Arab neighbours a priority.
But Al Attiyah cautioned that there were still major areas of disagreement.
More work must be done to build confidence on both sides, including on the issue of "interfering in other countries' internal affairs", he said.
For the Gulf Arabs, that means a rollback of Iran's longstanding support for militant proxies, such as Lebanon's Hezbollah, and other groups, including Yemen's Houthi rebels that are dependent on Tehran's backing.
"We are all in the GCC working towards a good neighbourhood. We want also Iran to take this approach as well, and only then we can have a fruitful dialogue," Al Attiyah said.
One major area of disagreement, he added, remains Iran's support for embattled Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, who remains in power after more than four years of civil war that has left at least 250,000 Syrians dead, according to UN figures.
"We wish that Iran looked at Syria through the (eyes of the) Syrian people and not through the brutal regime," Al Attiyah said.
Qatar, like other Gulf states, supports the mostly Sunni rebel movement fighting to topple Assad. It denies backing extremist groups, including the Daesh group that has seized large parts of both Syria and neighbouring Iraq, or the Al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front fighting Assad's forces in Syria.
Nonetheless, Qatar has helped secure the release of hostages held by Syrian rebels, including a group of Greek Orthodox nuns and American journalist Peter Theo Curtis held by the Nusra Front last year.
In the interview with the AP, al-Attiyah said those negotiations happened with the help of intermediaries in Syria. He denied that his country was in direct contact with the al-Qaida-linked group, and expressed hope that the Nusra Front will drop its ties to al-Qaida.
"All these rumors against Qatar defending the extremists or supporting the extremists in Syria (have) no truth," al-Attiyah said.
Qatar is moving ahead with its ambitious plans to become the first Middle Eastern nation to host the World Cup in seven years' time.
Its winning bid is under renewed scrutiny following the launch of American and Swiss investigations into corruption at football's world governing body, FIFA.
Al-Attiyah reiterated Qatar's stance that it has and will continue to cooperate with investigators. He said he was confident the games would go ahead and will be "the best World Cup ever."
He also hit back at the barrage of international criticism directed at Qatar over the tournament, saying racism played a role.
"Some parties cannot digest that a small, Arabic state ... is hosting such an event, as if our region, our Arab region is not entitled to have such an event," he said.
Al-Attiyah acknowledged that more work needs to be done to improve conditions for migrant laborers working on World Cup infrastructure and other construction projects in Qatar.
Promised reforms to the country's restrictive labor laws, which bind workers to a given employer and which rights groups say leave workers open to abuse, have yet to be implemented.
Al-Attiyah said he expected the new guidelines will be put in place by the end of the year.
"It is on the right track, and it will happen. We are serious about doing reforms," he said. - AP

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