Doha, Qatar: Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani has voiced strong support for the United States’ decision to lift sanctions on Syria, calling it "the right step moving forward" in an exclusive interview with CNN’s Becky Anderson in Doha on Wednesday night.
The interview aired following a state dinner hosted for US President Donald Trump, who announced the removal of sanctions on Tuesday after the fall of Bashar Al Assad’s regime and the rise of new Syrian leadership under President Ahmed Al Sharaa.
Speaking to Anderson, HE Prime Minister said, “So lifting the sanction, we believe it is the right step moving forward. What we decided to do is to start engaging with them, to start to see if they are saying and doing the right things, then we should support them.”
“We should support the stability of Syria,” he added. “We should support that Syria shouldn’t fail, and shouldn’t turn into a chaos.”
HE Prime Minister also addressed the status of ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas, and the limited progress amid continued Israeli military strikes on Gaza.
In the CNN interview, he pointed to the release of Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander as a potential breakthrough, but said Israel’s response was contradictory: “Unfortunately Israel’s reaction to this was [bombing] the next day, while sending the delegation. They are basically sending the signal that they are not interested in negotiations.”
Qatar, a key mediator in the talks, has hosted Israeli officials in Doha this week, which coincide with US President Trump's visit. The aim is to continue indirect negotiations, even as hostilities persist. HE Prime Minister said, however, that “If there is no willingness to behave in a meaningful negotiation, then how can we reach the solution?”
“Our teams are engaging with both parties. We hope to see some progress; I’m not sure if this progress will be something seen very soon with this continuing behaviour," HE Prime Minister told CNN's Anderson.
