Qatar accuses blockading countries of fragmenting GCC

Qatar has accused the blockading countries of being responsible for the dissolution of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

The comments were made by Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani in a joint press conference with his Iraqi counterpart Ibrahim al-Jaafari in Doha on Wednesday.

“The developments in the region that resulted in the actions undertaken by the blockading countries against Qatar has backfired and caused a crisis in international diplomacy for them,” Al Thani said.

The Qatari minister added that international efforts to combat terrorism and resolve crises in the region have been affected by what he called obstinacy of the embargo countries.

For his part, Ibrahim al-Jaafari said that his country believes that dialogue is the best course of action in case of a disagreement, adding that Iraq was against “isolating and besieging” any other country.

Al Jazeera’s correspondent Imran Khan said that the press conference between the two countries was a “strategic one”.

“It was a much friendlier and much more positive press conference we’ve seen with Iraq and Qatar in the past,” he said.

The conference reviewed ways of boosting bilateral relations and the reconstruction of Iraq post-Islamic State.

“They touched upon the GCC crisis and talked about Iraq’s potential role in any mediation that might take place,” he said.

The two countries had real problems during the first Gulf War in 1991 and broke off diplomatic relations. It was not until 2015 that the new Qatari embassy in Baghdad was opened.

In June, Egypt, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE cut off diplomatic relations with Qatar and imposed a land, sea and air blockade after accusing it of supporting terrorism.

Qatar has strongly denied the allegations.