US calls on Qatar to stop funding pro-Iranian militias

Emirates Business

In yet another blow to Qatar and its covert financing to terrorist group aiming to destabilise the region, the Trump administration has called on Doha to stop funding pro-Iranian militias following revelations about the Gulf state’s dealings with terror groups in the Middle East.
Securities officials of the United States are concerned about Qatar’s links to a number of Iranian-sponsored militias, many of them regarded as terrorist organisations by Washington.
It comes after the disclosure of a number of emails said to be from senior officials in the Qatari government to leading members of groups such as Hizbollah, the Iranian-backed Shia militia that operates in southern Lebanon, as well senior as senior commanders in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, the Sunday Telegraph first reported.
The leaked emails show that top members of the Qatari regime are on friendly terms with key figures in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard such as Qasem Soleimani, the influential head of of the Iranian Quds Force, and Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Hizbollah.
The emails further established that Qatar made secret payments of around $275 million (AED1 billion) to Iraqi and Iranian officials linked to the international terrorism network in order facilitate the hostage release last year. The payments were made just days after a 25-member Qatari hunting party, including nine members of the royal family, were released last year, after being kidnapped in southern Iraq.
Such payments are in direct contravention to Washington’s long-standing policy of not paying ransom demands to terrorist organisations.
Following US President Donald Trump’s decision last week to pull out the nuclear deal with Iran, the administration is now calling on Qatar to review its relations with Iran, as well as its ties with Iranian-sponsored terrorist groups.