According to Mujtahid, the Saudi intelligence ministry had estimated a huge loss
for Qatar following a severance by Riyadh and its allies of ties with Doha but
the developments showed that Qatar had prepared itself for these days.
"Bin Salman and Bin Zayed had thought that (Qatari Emir) Tamim (bin Hamad Al
Thani) will make concessions within 24 hours but the response that they received
was challenge and continued release of the emails of the (UAE's) ambassador (to
the United States, Yousef al-Otaiba) and other cases," he added.
According to reports, Riyadh and its regional allies had overestimated the
negative impacts of closing their airspaces to Qatari planes, underestimating
Doha's remaining option to use Iran's airspace by rerouting its flights.
Qatar Airways canceled flights to Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates
from Tuesday a day after it had suspended flights to Saudi Arabia.
Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt cut off diplomatic
ties with Qatar on Monday, and suspended air and sea communication one week
after the Arab Islamic American Summit in Riyadh. Later, Libya and the Maldives
joined that list of nation that break off diplomatic relations with Doha.
Qatar protested the unjustified decision of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the
United Arab Emirates to cut ties with the country.
"We regret the decision to sever relations," the Qatari Foreign Ministry said in
a statement, adding that "these measures are unjustified, they are based on
assertions without foundation."
"The State of Qatar is an active member of the Cooperation Council for the Arab
States of the [Persian] Gulf [GCC], respects its charter, respects the
sovereignty of other states and does not interfere in their internal affairs,
and also fulfills its obligations to combat terrorism and extremism," the
ministry stressed.
SOURCE: Fars News Agency