Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed Al Khalifa said the Anti-Terrorism Quartet was not affected by its decision to boycott Qatar, noting that Doha was the only side that is suffering from this step. He added that if the Arab peninsula maintained its abusive behavior, the boycott would continue, hoping that Doha would return to the Gulf, “because it’s in its interest to return to its permanent brethren.” In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat from Bahrain, the senior official said: “There is a quick and calm mechanism for Gulf leaders to resolve their differences and crises, which usually ends in the interest of the people… But Qatar changed the rules of the relationship, and rushed to present the case around the world, which caused the prolongation of the crisis.” “There is no glimmer of hope now to solve this crisis,” he added. Asked whether the presence of a Turkish military base in Qatar was a threat to the region, the foreign minister said: “Last Ramadan, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told me at a closed meeting in Turkey that the presence of the military base in Qatar was not a threat to any country, but an earlier agreement between Doha and Ankara, twinned with the current situation. I asked him that his foreign minister clarifies this stance; Mevlut Cavusoglu mentioned this during a press conference, but his words were understood as a protection to the region.” “We are responsible for protecting ourselves, we do not need anyone to protect us in the region; we have allies with the world,” he stressed. Sheikh Khaled commended the US stance against Iran, noting that it converged with the Gulf States’ plan to face the Iranian regime. “The new American position is serious and firm, and this principle was the approach of our leaders in dealing with the affairs of the region,” he stated, adding: “When we read the 12 conditions announced last Monday by State Secretary Mike Pompeo, we saw ourselves in one position in the confrontation line against the Iranian regime.” Asked whether terrorist operations decreased after Qatar’s boycott and the US pressure on Iran, the foreign minister said communication with the terrorists in Bahrain stopped, “because it used to be done directly with intermediaries in Manama...” “But if they have a connection now, it is through Iran. There are different ways of communication, including funding, the media and many more,” he said. Commenting on the transfer of the US embassy to Jerusalem, he said: “We don’t have the same position as Israel on the subject. Israel considers Jerusalem as a unified city, and we disagree with them ... We are adhering to the Arab Initiative that calls for East Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinians.” “This is something the United States must be aware of,” he underlined.