Actions taken by the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Arab Republic of Egypt, are legitimate sovereign decisions that are not in any way a blockade, but rather a boycott, affirmed Obaid Salem Al Zaabi, UAE Permanent Representative to the United Nations, UN, and other international organizations in Geneva. The position of the four states — Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt — was disclosed in a statement by Zaabi on Thursday. The statement was in response to remarks made in the speech of the Qatari delegate during the panel discussion on the unilateral measures of human rights and coercion during the current session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva. The four Arab states calling to fight terror have reiterated that the measures that they have taken against Qatar are legitimate sovereign decisions that are by no means a ‘siege’ but a boycott resulting from the damage caused by the irresponsible actions of Doha through its support, financing and harboring of terrorism and terrorist groups, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported. “We welcome the convening of the panel discussion and reiterate our condemnation of the imposition of coercive measures because they are contrary to international laws and violations of human rights,” Zaabi said. He pointed out that if the Qatari people have been harmed by what the representative of Qatar called the “siege of the boycotting countries,” how could he explain the statements made by senior Qatari officials, confirming that they are not affected by severing diplomatic relations. “In our opinion, these contradictions and the persistence of the Qatari policy reveal the double standard of their rhetoric,” he said. Zaabi expressed his regret that the Qatari delegation is raising this matter for the second time during the day, which indicates that there is no sincere intention on Qatar’s part to review its policies and positions in support of terrorism and extremism.