Member Of Qatari Ruling Family: Stop Supporting Iran | MEMRI

Iran has devastated the countries of the region; Enough with calls to support it.

By Amb. Alberto M. Fernandez | MEMRI | Sept 8, 2026

Qatar is known as an ally of Iran and maintains close relations with it despite having been attacked by Iran several times during the recent war. This is evident in the ongoing contacts between the two countries, in Qatar’s commitment to mediating between Iran and the U.S. in order to bring an end to the war, and especially in the emirate’s official and media discourse, which portrays Iran in a positive light and even as having won the war and humiliated the U.S.[1]

Moreover, Qatar recently expressed reservations about the economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. on Iran and hinted that it might not comply with them. Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said at a press conference that these were “unilateral sanctions,” rather than UN sanctions, and that Qatar had not yet decided whether to support them.[2]

However, Dr. Hamad bin Abd Al-Rahman bin Hamad Aal Thani, a member of Qatar’s ruling family and a columnist for the Qatari daily Al-Sharq, recently published an unusual article that goes against this Qatari line. The article harshly criticizes those who side with Iran, portray it as a victim, and call for supporting it despite its attacks on the Gulf states and the destructive intervention of its proxies, which have severely harmed several Arab countries. The “discordant voices” spreading these lies, he says, seek to foment hostility and inflame conflicts in the region and are jeopardizing the future of their homelands. However, he added, they are likely to fail in light of the growing awareness among the peoples of the region.

The following are excerpts from his article:[3]

“Human history has never been free of the constant struggle between truth and falsehood and between clarity and political hypocrisy. Today, however, there is acute polarization and a genuine test of conscience. Amid the bloody conflicts and profound tensions afflicting the Arabian Gulf and the broader [Arab] East, discordant voices have emerged among us, known as ‘purveyors of lies,’ who covertly think the opposite of what they say and who vainly attempt to turn the facts on their head and falsify the collective consciousness. [They do this] by promoting claims about the injustice suffered by the Iranian regime and calling to support it under glittering slogans whose falsity is plain to see.

“Here the legitimate and pressing question arises: Do these people represent a rational and objective approach based on the principles of [sound] reasoning, or are they merely tools driven by hidden agendas and narrow interests, devoid of any sense of patriotism and morality…?

“A considered reading of the regional reality exposes the fundamental falsity of this discourse. How can [anyone] reasonably believe claims about aiding the oppressed when they come from those who have perpetrated the most abhorrent forms of abuse and destruction against the peoples of the region? The Syrian tragedy and all that accompanied it – forced displacement, systematic killing, and a funded sectarian demographic transformation that is a disgrace to humanity – stand as clear evidence of the role played by Iran and [its] militias in tearing apart Syria’s social fabric against the free will of its people.

“The situation in Iraq, Lebanon, and Yemen is not much different: their national institutions and societies have been dragged into sectarian wars and suffocating economic crises that have transformed [these] Arab countries, which were once pioneers of development, civilization, and prosperity, into laggards in the march of global progress, while our countries and peoples in the Gulf suffer from disasters and persistent security challenges as a result of these destructive policies.

“When one of them [i.e., Iran’s propagandists] speaks of supporting the oppressed while ignoring the blood of the innocent and the suffering of our brethren in the Arab countries that have been scorched by the fire of [Iran’s] interventions in the region, he is either mired in utter, blinding, ignorance or is knowingly and deliberately complicit in justifying falsehood. This is a sorry example of someone who cannot see the truth and whose conscience is defective. Instead of addressing the suffering of his own people and the disasters surrounding him, he promotes [Iran’s] dubious discourse as though deaf and blind to the reality that is plain to see…

“These lying groups, which seek to ignite internecine wars and inflame conflicts in the service of undeclared agendas and objectives, are driven by fleeting personal interests, with no regard for the security and stability of their homelands… They are digging the graves of their peoples and their own graves with their very own hands, while imagining that they are securing some immediate benefit.

Yet the political and moral blindness of this group will do nothing to alter the course of history. The gamble on falsifying consciousness and hijacking the will of the peoples is a losing one, whose legitimacy is shattered against the rock of the growing awareness of the free and proud peoples of the region…”