PM: Qatar keen to diffuse tensions between Iran, EU
Qatar does not support "any kind of action in Iran" and insists that tensions over the country's nuclear program be resolved diplomatically, the prime minister told reporters yesterday.
Hamad Bin Jasim al Thani's comments came on the heels of a European Union decision to ban oil imports from Iran starting July 1.
Bloomberg reports:
European countries and the U.S. accuse Iran of seeking to develop atomic weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is strictly for energy.
Iran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, a seaway linking the Persian Gulf with the Indian Ocean, if sanctions are imposed on its oil. Qatar, the world's biggest producer of liquefied natural gas, ships nearly all its LNG and crude oil through the strait to markets around the world.
"Hormuz is an international passageway and I think it's in the benefit of all that this passage stays open for the economy, for the world," the prime minister said.