Saudis cut ties with Qatar for endorsing Iran: Analyst

Saudi Arabia and its allies in the Middle East cut ties with Qatar over Doha’s endorsement of Iran as a source of peace and stability in the region, says James Jatras, a former US Senate foreign policy adviser.

“The real accusation against them is that the Qataris support the Muslim Brotherhood, which is true, even though the United States is not less than the brotherhood as a terrorist organization,” Jatras told Press TV on Wednesday.

“Even worst, the Qataris actually talk to the Iranians, which is their real sin here and the reason that the Saudis are going after them, especially after President Trump’s visit to Riyadh, where he essentially anointed the Saudis as our champion in the region, are directed against Iran,” Jatras said.

“This idea that somehow the Russians were responsible for the rift between Saudi Arabia and Qatar is very peculiar,” he added.

“We know very well what is going on here. The Saudis are accusing Qataris of collusion with terrorism, but as we know, both the Qataris and Saudis so support terrorism, particularly ISIS (ISIL) and al-Qaida in Syria.”

Read More:

• Trump: Arab leaders blamed Qatar for extremism
• Saudi, UAE, Bahrain, Egypt cut ties with Qatar
• Qatar says 'subjected to a campaign of lies'

US security agencies believe Russian hackers planted a fake news report in Qatar's state news agency that contributed to a diplomatic crisis among Washington’s Arab allies in the Persian Gulf.

Intelligence gathered by the FBI indicates that Russian hackers were behind the cyber attack on the Qatar News Agency that was first reported by the Qatari government two weeks ago, CNN reported Wednesday, citing US officials.

The FBI recently sent a team of investigators to Doha to help the Qatari government investigate the alleged hacking incident, according to the news network, citing US and Qatari officials.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected what he called CNN's "fake" reporting.

The split among the Arab states erupted last month after US President Donald Trump visited Saudi Arabia where he accused Iran of "destabilizing interventions" in Arab lands.

Trump said Tuesday that leaders of Saudi Arabia and its regional allies had warned him that Qatar was funding "radical ideology" after he demanded they stop financing militant groups.

Trump made the comments on Twitter after Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, and several other countries cut off diplomatic ties with Qatar on Monday over allegations that Doha is sponsoring terrorism and destabilizing the region.

Late last month, Qatar’s state-run news agency released comments attributed to Qatar's Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in which he described Iran as a force for stability and accused the Saudis of promoting extremism.

Afterwards, Saudi Arabia and the UAE blocked access to Qatari media, including Al Jazeera, and Egypt accused the international news channel of "inciting terrorism" and "fabricating news."

Faced with the backlash, the Qatari government was quick to claim that hackers had broken into the QNA website and published the “fake news.”

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