Qatar says it can't mediate while under attack

Qatar has said it won’t serve as a mediator for Iran as it remains under attack from Tehran.

Mohammed bin Abdulaziz al-Khulaifi, Qatar’s minister of state for foreign affairs, made the statement to the Qatari-funded satellite news network Al Jazeera in an interview aired Wednesday.

He noted both Qatar and Oman had been attacked even though they worked to “build bridges between Iran and the West.”

“We will not be able to fulfill that role under attack, and that’s something the Iranians need to understand,” al-Khulaifi said.

He added: “The regional countries are not an enemy of Iran, and the Iranians are not understanding that idea.”