Economic interdependence between Iran and its Gulf neighbours could provide a foundation for security in the long term, Majed Al Ansari, adviser to Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman, said in New York on Monday.Speaking at the Concordia Annual Summit, Mr Al Ansari laid out a vision for the region after the current conflict in which economic interests and security guarantees help reduce the risk of future confrontation.“Whenever this is done, the people of the Gulf are going to be living next to 90 million Iranians,” Mr Al Ansari, who is also spokesman for Qatar's Foreign Ministry, said ahead of the UN General Assembly's high-level debate. “Whatever Iran looks like, however it is governed, we're going to have to live next to them, and therefore, we need a diplomatic resolution that has a sustainable element when it comes to regional dialogue," he added.Such an arrangement would also need security guarantees to ensure Gulf countries are not targeted by Iran during future confrontations involving Tehran, he said.“We do believe wholeheartedly that there is a chance to create in the region something that has not happened since the inception of our region, which is economic interdependence,” he elaborated."Right now, we are so siloed when it comes to our economies that it does not cost the other party anything when the other side of the Gulf is threatened one way o...
This page contains an attributed headline and the preview text supplied through the publisher’s RSS feed. Copyright in the original reporting belongs to The National.
