Brian Hook, the US State Department Special Representative for Iran, speaks during the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference in Washington, DC on 24 March 2019 [ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP/Getty Images]
US Special Envoy for Iran, Brian Hook, has urged Gulf countries to end their rift saying that it has gone on for far too long and that they need to start rebuilding trust.
“The dispute has continued for too long and it ultimately harms our shared regional interests in stability, prosperity and security,” Hook is reported saying in Reuters following a meeting with the Qatari foreign minister.
“Bringing an end to this dispute really will advance the collective interests of all the parties to this conflict,” Hook went to say. The US envoy is in the Middle East to urge leaders in the region to extend a United Nations arms embargo on Iran. He has visited UN Security Council member Tunisia and is expected to travel to Kuwait.
Gulf states Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and non-Gulf state Egypt cut ties with Qatar in June 2017 over accusations it supports terrorism. Doha denies the charges and says the bloc aims to infringe its sovereignty.
The US, along with Kuwait, have so far unsuccessfully tried to mediate the dispute, which Washington sees as a threat to efforts to contain Iran.
Earlier this month top UN ruling body, the International Court of Justice ruled against the Saudi-led blockade concluding in a 16-1 decision that the prohibition of Qatar-registered aircraft from flying to or from their airports and overflying their national airspaces was a flagrant violation of international law.
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