LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Now we're going to focus on one of the U.S.'s allies in the region - Qatar, also a regional mediator. I'm joined by Majed Mohammed Al-Ansari. He's a spokesperson for Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and an adviser to the prime minister. Good morning, and welcome back to the program.
MAJED MOHAMMED AL-ANSARI: Good morning. Thank you very much for having me, Leila.
FADEL: I know your country shot down two Iranian fighter jets yesterday. Going forward, is Qatar planning to respond to Iran's attacks on civilian and military infrastructure?
AL-ANSARI: We reserve the right for retaliation. This is a decision that is with our leaders right now. We have proved our military capabilities in thwarting all of these attacks on our country, including the attack by the two Sukhoi planes that were downed in the Gulf. And we will do the same, and we will continue defending our country against any missiles, drones or fighter jets that invade our airspace.
Since this escalation has began, we were targeted with more than a hundred ballistic missiles, three cruise missiles, 39 drones and this attack by the fighter jets, and thankfully, most of them have been thwarted by our military. We are working very closely right now with our allies in the region and beyond to make sure that collectively we are safe, and we are working together to prevent these attacks having any damage on our countries.
FADEL: So are Gulf countries considering a coordinated response?
AL-ANSARI: As I said, these decisions are with our leadership right now, but we are completely reserving the right for retaliation.
FADEL: Were you warned by the U.S. that it was going to start this attack?
AL-ANSARI: As we have stated before, we had no knowledge of these attacks taking place. We were working very closely with the administration in good faith in the talks in supporting the Omani-led mediation. We are now coordinating very closely with the U.S. administration and with CENTCOM here in Doha. And as you know, there was a joint statement between the GCC and the United States in condemning the blatant attacks by Iran on our countries, that including civilian targets, including the airport, our energy facilities and, of course, the residential areas in Qatar.
FADEL: Are you speaking at all to Iranian leadership? Is there any communication?
AL-ANSARI: We have not resumed communication with the Iranians since their attacks on our sovereignty have started. We are preoccupied right now with the defensive measures and making sure that our people and residents here in Qatar are safe.
When we are given a choice, we always take the choice for peace. But when our sovereignty is threatened, we've always been - made it very clear that this will not be accepted and we will do everything necessary to deter any attacks on our country.
We - during the attacks and during the Twelve-Day War on our country, we reserve the right for retaliation, but we opted for peace when there was a chance for a ceasefire, prioritizing regional security over retaliation. And this has happened again now at a more severe way and with a clear target of our civilian infrastructure, and therefore, it cannot go unanswered.
FADEL: It cannot go unanswered.
AL-ANSARI: Yes, exactly.
FADEL: When you say it cannot go unanswered, what does that mean?
AL-ANSARI: As I said, it's with our leaders right now. The - all possible venues, whether it be legal, political, or military, are being discussed. And when there is a decision to be taken by our leaders, we will announce it.
FADEL: Qatar shares its underwater gas field with Iran. Your country stopped LNG production after two gas facilities were targeted. How long do you expect that will go on? And what are the economic costs here?
AL-ANSARI: Of course, the economic costs on international economy are very high. You have to remember, Qatar produces 20% of the international LNG, international natural gas supplies. There is a lot of dependency on Qatari natural gas from East to West. And we have always proven ourselves to be a reliable partner to our energy partners around the world, supplying them with energy in the darkest of times. But these are very difficult times, and we prioritize not only the safety of the people who are working on our facilities, but also the production itself. The targeting was of our facilities, as you know, in Ras Laffan and also an industrial complex in Mesaieed (ph), and this is why the decision was taken to halt production, assess the damage, assess the risks. And moving forward, of course, we do not know when this situation, our region, will calm down and we will have some kind of cessation of hostilities. But the priority right now is the safety of our production and the safety of our people in working over there and making sure that all of these attacks don't cause overarching damage on the energy production in our countries.
FADEL: We last spoke in September after Israel carried out airstrikes on Hamas leaders in Doha, killing six people including a Qatari security official. And at the time, you said Israel was sabotaging peace talks with Hamas by bombing the mediators. Now, the U.S. was still negotiating with Iran over its nuclear capabilities, and Oman was very positive about the outcome when the U.S. carried out these attacks over the weekend to decapitate the Iranian regime's leadership. Is that decision any different from what happened in September?
AL-ANSARI: When it comes to the negotiations that were taking place, you know, we were supporting the Omani-led mediation, the Omanis have been making strides. We do not know why the decision was taken to move from talks to escalation like this. This is a question to be addressed to the U.S. administration.
From our point of view, we have always believed that the only way forward for the region is through dialogue, is through finding solutions that will provide security for all the peoples in the region, and that can only happen on the dialogue table. Yes, there is escalation here today, but at the end, the solution will only be through dialogue.
We have always said - and this is the biggest I-told-you-so in the history of I-told-you-sos in our region - we've always said, from the 7 of October attacks and the ensuing violence and the war on the people of Gaza, we've said that if left to its own devices, if allowed to continue, this escalation in the region will lead us to a regional deterioration of security that will go beyond the control of any individual actor. And what we are seeing right now is exactly what we anticipated would happen if that escalation was left unchecked, which it was, of course.
And we go back to the original, you know, statement that we have always made, which is we need to de-escalate through dialogue, through pressure from the international community, to stop all measures of escalation in the regions. We understand the security concerns of all parties involved, but the only way forward is finding a peaceful outcome of this situation. For us here in Qatar, right now, we're preoccupied in defending ourselves and making sure that our people are safe. When there is a window of opportunity, you can rest assured that Qatar, when given a choice, will choice - will choose peace and will choose mediation over escalation.
FADEL: Majed Mohammed Al-Ansari is the spokesperson for Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and adviser to the prime minister. Thank you for your time.
AL-ANSARI: Thank you for having me.
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