Tehran must work to restore trust with Gulf states, which has been damaged by its decision to attack Qatar, the diplomatic adviser to UAE President Sheikh Mohamed said on Saturday.
The missile attack came despite Gulf states' opposition to Israel's strikes on Iran and their efforts to de-escalate the situation, Dr Anwar Gargash said
Qatar said it repelled 19 missiles launched by Iran on Monday evening. Tehran said these were targeted at the Al Udeid airbase, which is used by American forces, as retaliation against the US for joining Israel's attacks on its nuclear sites.
“The Gulf states took a strong and influential stand against the Israeli war on Iran. They sought to de-escalate tensions in all international forums and called for a political resolution to outstanding issues, most notably the nuclear issue,” Dr Gargash said in a post on X.
“Despite this, Iran targeted the sovereignty of the sisterly state of Qatar, a targeting that affects us all.
“Today, as we turn the page on the war, Tehran remains called upon to restore trust with its Gulf neighbours, which was damaged by this aggression.”
The attack was strongly condemned by the UAE and other members of the GCC – Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain – as well as other Arab states.
Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim described it as a flagrant breach of Qatar's sovereignty and airspace, and “inconsistent with the principle of good neighbourliness and the close relations between the two countries”, when Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian made a phone call to express his regret over the attack.
The attack disrupted air travel across the region as Qatar and some other Gulf states closed their airspace and flights were diverted.
In an interview with AFP published on Saturday, Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari said that as leaders were weighing their response to the attack, a call came from US President Donald Trump to Sheikh Tamim, saying “there is a possibility for regional stability … and that Israel has agreed to a ceasefire”.
“Qatar could have taken the decision to escalate,” Mr Al Ansari said. “But because there was a chance for peace … we opted for that.”
The ceasefire Mr Trump announced in the hours following the attack on Qatar has so far held.
No Shame
Lily Allen
(Parlophone)
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Miss Granny
Director: Joyce Bernal
Starring: Sarah Geronimo, James Reid, Xian Lim, Nova Villa
3/5
(Tagalog with Eng/Ar subtitles)
Fighting with My Family
Director: Stephen Merchant
Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Nick Frost, Lena Headey, Florence Pugh, Thomas Whilley, Tori Ellen Ross, Jack Lowden, Olivia Bernstone, Elroy Powell
Four stars
Results:
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7.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 100,000 2,400m | Winner: Brass Ring, Fabrice Veron, Ismail Mohammed
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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Meydan card
6.30pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 (PA) Group 1 US$65,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
7.05pm: Conditions (TB) $100,000 (Turf) 1,400m
7.40pm: UAE 2000 Guineas Trial (TB) $100,000 (D) 1,600m
8.15pm: Handicap (TB) $175,000 (T) 1,200m
8.50pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 (TB) Group 2 $350,000 (D) 1,600m
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) $175,000 (D) 1,900m
10pm: Handicap (TB) $135,000 (T) 1,600m
