Al-Bawsala – The Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, on Thursday, that Doha’s position on the Syrian crisis depends on the regime’s actions in Damascus and the Arab consensus on it.

This came during a media briefing by Foreign Ministry spokesman Majid bin Muhammad al-Ansari in Doha, according to the official news agency, Qena.

Al-Ansari stated that “the position of the State of Qatar on the Syrian crisis depends on two main determinants. The first is that the regime fulfills the aspirations of the Syrian people for a political solution and the Geneva 1 Declaration (June 2012). The second determinant is the Arab consensus on these moves.”

He pointed out that Qatar is “involved in many initiatives aimed primarily at achieving the aspirations of the Syrian people, and supporting any effort that achieves comprehensive peace in accordance with the aforementioned main determinants.”

Regarding the Jordanian initiative to contribute to resolving the Syrian crisis, Al-Ansari stated that Qatar “supports all initiatives aimed at finding comprehensive peace in Syria, and supports all Arab and international efforts in this regard.”

Jordan intends to launch an initiative to solve the Syrian crisis, which its foreign minister spoke about last year. It is based on “a direct Arab role that engages with the Syrian government in a political dialogue aimed at resolving the crisis and addressing its humanitarian, security and political repercussions.”

Al-Ansari spoke about “the statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in which it condemned in the strongest terms the statements of the Israeli Minister of Finance (Bezalel Smotrich), in which he denied the existence of the Palestinian people, and his use of a map of Israel that includes the borders of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the occupied Palestinian territories.”

On Sunday, Smotrich, the leader of the far-right “religious Zionist” party, claimed during a meeting with supporters of Israel in Paris that “there is no such thing as a Palestinian people.”

During his speech, Smotrich presented an alleged map of Israel that includes the borders of Jordan and the Palestinian territories, according to the Hebrew newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth.

In his briefing, Al-Ansari touched on the Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman’s contact with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and Iran and his welcome to the Saudi-Iranian agreement and the issuance of the joint declaration, and the State of Qatar’s support for all that was stated in it.

On March 10, Saudi Arabia and Iran announced the resumption of their diplomatic relations and the reopening of embassies within two months, following Chinese-sponsored talks in Beijing, according to a joint statement by the three countries.

In January 2016, Saudi Arabia severed its relations with Iran, following attacks on the Riyadh embassy in Tehran and its consulate in Mashhad, in protest against the kingdom’s execution of Saudi Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr, on charges including “terrorism.”​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Anatolia