Saudi King Salman’s invitation comes despite having cut diplomatic ties with Qatar since June 2017
DESPARDES News Monitor — Qatar says that it has received an invitation from Saudi Arabia to attend two emergency regional summits on May 30 in Makkah to discuss mounting tensions between Tehran and Washington.
Qatar’s emir “has received a written message” inviting the government to join the crisis talks, the government’s information office in Doha said.
The invitation was received by Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani during a meeting with the secretary general of the GCC, the statement said.
Doha has not yet accepted the invitation, reports UAE’s The National.
Doha initially claimed it had not received an invite, the paper said.
Riyadh had called two gatherings – one for Arab League members, the other for Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) regional bloc nations – after a spate of attacks.
Several tankers in Gulf waters were targeted under mysterious circumstances and a Saudi crude pipeline was hit by drone strikes coordinated by Yemen rebels who Riyadh said were acting on Iranian orders, AFP reported.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt have imposed an economic and diplomatic boycott on Qatar since June 2017 over allegations that Doha supports terrorism and is cozying up to regional foe Iran. Qatar denies the charges.
Al-Thani has previously called for a “dialogue” between Iran and the United States to resolve the crisis between their countries.
