Why Qatar’s regime sacked PM Abdullah bin Nasser?

Noura Bendary

The resignation of Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser Al Thani and the appointment of Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdelaziz Al Thani as premier. There have been news reports that Abdullah bin Nasser was forced to resign and under house arrest since he resigned because of his rejection of rising Turkish military presence in Qatar and Doha’s support to Iran’s mullah regime.

On Jan. 28, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani accepted the resignation of Abdullah bin Nasser. News reports said Qatar had paid Iran $2 billion in compensation for the killing of Qasem Soleimani, Iranian major general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and commander of its Quds Force.

Soleimani was killed by the US on Jan. 3 in an air attack launched from a military base in Qatar.

QatariLeaks website said on Jan. 28 that Abdullah bin Nasser resigned because of Qatari-Iranian rapprochement, especially after bin Nasser refused to pay Iran $3 billion as compensation for the killing of Soleimani.

Saudi channel Midad News said on Jan. 27 that Hassan Abbasi, an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officer, had said Qatar’s Emir had visited Iran on Jan. 12 and paid $3 billion to the mullah regime so that Tehran wouldn’t strike Doha in retaliation for the killing of Soleimani.

Qatar’s Emir has been keen on maintaining strong ties with his allies in Tehran. That’s why he sent his foreign minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani to Tehran a day after Soleimani’s killing to explain Qatar’s position and offer mediation with the United States.

Abdullah bin Nasser refused to visit Tehran and that’s why Emir Tamim sent his foreign minister before he went by himself on Jan. 12.

Qatar’s regime wanted another prime minister, who would approve its hostile stances against the Arab countries and to be in line with the Turkish-Iranian axis. Therefore, the new Qatari prime minister will follow the same approach. Doha has paid billions of dollars to Iranian militias supporting terrorism in the region.

Ahmad al-Jaralah, Editor-in-Chief of Kuwaiti newspaper Al Seyassah, said on Twitter that the appointment of a new premier in Qatar has different indications from those promoted by the social media.  “The Turks and the Iranians are loyal merchants like other world powers, noting that emir Tamim has all the power and no place for advisors in Doha,” al-Jaralah tweeted on Jan. 28.