By AFP - Agence France Presse
Attack on Iran's nuclear plant would leave Gulf without water, warns Qatari PM.
Dubai (AFP) - Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani has warned that an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities on the Gulf coast would leave countries in the region without water.
In an interview with US right-wing media personality Tucker Carlson, who is close to US President Donald Trump, the premier said that Doha had simulated the effects of an attack,
The sea would be “totally contaminated” and Qatar would “run out of water in three days”, he said.
He added that the construction of reservoirs since then had increased water capacity, but the risk remained for “all of us” in the region.
“No water, no fish, no nothing... no life,” Sheikh Mohammed added in the interview published on Friday, the same day Trump said he had invited Iran to nuclear talks.
Alluding to military action, Trump said he would “prefer to see a peace agreement”, but that “the other will solve the problem”.
Qatar, which is 190 km south of Iran, relies heavily on desalination for its water supply, as do other Gulf Arab countries in the arid desert region.
Iran has a nuclear power plant in Bushehr, on the Gulf coast, although its uranium enrichment facilities, essential for building atomic weapons, are located hundreds of kilometers inland.
Referring to sites “on the other side of the coast”, Sheikh Mohammed said that Qatar had “not only military concerns but also safety and security concerns? protection”.
He said Qatar was opposed to military action against Iran and “will not give up until we see a diplomatic solution between the US and Iran”.
Tehran was “willing to get involved”, he said.
“They are willing to reach a level that creates comfort for everyone. And most importantly, they are focused on repairing their relationship with the region, and that's something in itself.”
Western powers have long accused Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, which the country denies. In 2015, Iran signed an agreement to suspend sanctions in exchange for controlling its nuclear program, but Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018, during his first term.
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