Iran stability important for Gulf: Qatari PM

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“First, we have to consider this as an internal affair because each country and its domestic affairs should be respected,” the Premier told Al-Jazeera televison on Wednesday night when asked about the crisis following the re-election of incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

“The Iranians have to decide on how to resolve their issues among themselves in the usual way and I am sure they will get over

this crisis.”

“The stability of Iran is important for our region,” he added of the country, which lies across the Gulf from Qatar and several other Arab states.

“For us in our region of the Gulf, the stability of Iran is important, and I think for you in the West, as well,” Al-Jazeera quoted the Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, as saying during a visit to Paris. He lauded the country’s “democratic” practice, saying that “during 30 years, Iran had four presidents, when in some Arab countries, the president has not changed during that period”.

Qatar is one of few Arab countries to have commented on the unrest, in which at least 17 people have been killed in clashes between opposition supporters and police.

Unlike some of its neighbours, Qatar, a leading oil exporter and the world’s top exporter of liquefied natural gas, has normal diplomatic relations with Iran.

The United Arab Emirates, home to the second-largest Iranian community outside the United States, has also dubbed the events in Iran as a “domestic affair.”

 

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