Qatar warns any US-Iran escalation would be ‘catastrophic’ for region

DOHA: A military escalation between the United States and Iran would have grave consequences for the region, Qatar said Tuesday after Washington threatened strikes in response to a government crackdown on protests in the Islamic republic.

“We know that any escalation… would have catastrophic results in the region and beyond, and therefore we want to avoid that as much as possible,” Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said at a press conference in Doha.

In June, Iran targeted the United States’ Al Udeid military base in Qatar in response to earlier American strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.  

Doha was able to leverage the unprecedented attack on its soil to help deliver a speedy truce between Washington and Tehran.

Mass protests in Iran since Thursday have posed one of the biggest challenges to the clerical leadership since the 1979 Islamic revolution ousted the shah.

The White House repeated on Monday that US President Donald Trump is considering air strikes on Iran to stop a crackdown on protesters.

READ MORE: Trump weighs response to Iran crackdown, Tehran says communication open with US

Rights groups have reported a growing death toll in the Islamic republic, with information continuing to trickle out of Iran despite a days-long internet shutdown.

In response to Trump’s repeated threats to intervene, Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Iran would hit back, calling the US military and shipping “legitimate targets” in comments broadcast by state TV.

The Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR) said it had confirmed 648 people were killed during the protests, including nine minors, but warned the death toll was likely much higher – “according to some estimates more than 6,000”.

Washington has also said a channel for diplomacy remains open, with Iran taking a “far different tone” in private discussions with Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff.

“We are still at a state right now where we believe that the diplomatic resolution can come out of this,” Ansari said.

“We are involved in talking to all parties, obviously with our neighbours and our partners in the region to find a diplomatic solution,” he added.