Former Qatari PM Calls for Saudi-Led 'Gulf NATO' as US Pivots from Middle East

Former Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani said the United States-Israel war on Iran is not the result of a sudden escalation but the culmination of a long-term Israeli agenda to violently reshape the Middle East.

In a wide-ranging interview with Al Jazeera’s Al Muqabala programme published on 11 May 2026, the veteran diplomat offered a stark assessment of the region’s rapidly shifting geopolitical landscape. Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani had warned last year of an impending conflict with Iran and urged Gulf states to push for a diplomatic resolution.

He stated that a hardline faction within Israel led by Netanyahu has been trying to drag the US into a war over Tehran’s nuclear programme since President Bill Clinton’s administration in the 1990s. In the late 1990s, Qatari leadership dispatched Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani to Tehran to deliver a message from the Clinton administration demanding that Iran hand over its nascent nuclear programme to Russia or submit to international arrangements.

At the time, Tehran viewed Doha as aligned with the American stance.

Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani stated that Netanyahu convinced the US administration that the war on Iran would be short and swift and that the Iranian regime would fall within weeks. He noted that an additional two weeks of talks in Geneva early this year, an Oman-led diplomatic push, could have averted the war. The conflict has forced all parties back to the negotiating table, he added.

A container ship sat at anchor in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, on May 2, 2026. Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani stated that Iran is treating the Strait of Hormuz as its own sovereign territory. He called the weaponisation of the Strait of Hormuz the most dangerous outcome of the war, arguing it poses a more immediate threat to global economies than Iran’s nuclear programme.

Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani stated that Iran attacked Gulf energy, industrial and civilian infrastructure. He said the Gulf states, which had opposed the war, have borne the brunt of the crisis, generating widespread public anger over the economic and security disruptions. Nevertheless, geography dictates coexistence, and he called for a frank, collective Gulf dialogue with Tehran.

In one of his most blunt assessments, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani stated that the greatest threat to the Gulf is internal Gulf disunity. He proposed the creation of a Gulf NATO, a joint political and defence project starting with a core group of strategically aligned Gulf nations with Saudi Arabia as its backbone.

He argued that the European Union began with a small number of states before expanding, suggesting a similar model governed by strict institutionalised laws.

Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani stated that US bases have provided crucial deterrence for decades. However, he stated that Washington is pivoting towards Asia and the containment of China, meaning the Gulf can no longer rely indefinitely on the US security umbrella. He urged Gulf states to develop long-term strategic partnerships with Turkiye, Pakistan and Egypt.

Turning to the issue of Palestine, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani stated that more than 72,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel’s war began in October 2023. He stated that Israel is offering money to encourage Palestinians to leave Gaza, which he described as turning the enclave into a real estate project.

He rejected any discussion of disarming Hamas without a guaranteed political horizon for an independent Palestinian state.

Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani stated that Saudi Arabia refuses to normalise relations with Israel without a roadmap for an independent Palestinian state. This stance, he said, deeply disrupted Netanyahu’s regional calculations. He stated that Netanyahu is using the chaos to market a vision of Greater Israel.

Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani expressed relief at the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria. He stated that Bashar al-Assad’s government mismanaged Syria for nearly 14 years of war. Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani advised Bashar al-Assad early in the revolution to listen to his people, and he stated that the new Syrian leadership is pragmatic in avoiding Israeli provocations.

Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani stated that America’s true power has always been in its ability to avoid using force, not in deploying it. “We are witnessing a major restructuring of the region,” he said. ” @AJEnglish reported these details from the interview.