Qatar redeployed its entire air and missile defence in six hours, intelligence chief says

The head of Qatar's Intelligence and Security Authority, Brigadier General Khalid Mohammed Al-Nuaimi, said on Tuesday that Qatar redeployed all of its defensive systems within six hours. He was speaking at the Global Security Forum in Doha, and the move was a response to threats from the Iran war in the Gulf region. In a rare public appearance, he described the step as unprecedented and successful.

Al-Nuaimi explained that the overhaul rested on eight months of adapting Qatar's forces, defence capabilities and military doctrine, which had been designed for a very different set of threats. Asked how Qatar countered drones, he said the changes covered both the concept of defence and the allocation of defence assets. He admitted the country had been caught off guard but adapted quickly out of necessity.

US-Iran talks

Qatar's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari told the forum that the US-Iran negotiations, which Qatar is mediating, are continuing and both sides are engaging. In his view, the lack of public news suggests the mediators are doing their job well. His remarks come amid growing concern that the Iran war could restart.

Tom Barrack, the US ambassador to Turkey and Special Presidential Envoy for Syria and Iraq, said America wants a peace deal built on a ceasefire in the straits and easing the hardship of the Iranian people. He named a lack of trust between the US and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as the main obstacle. Barrack also said the US will not leave the Middle East, describing its current approach as a message of realignment rather than abandonment. He argued that interventions to change regimes have been mistakes.

Yemen

Al-Ansari reaffirmed Qatar's support for Saudi Arabia in defending its sovereignty. Sir John Sawers, former head of the UK's foreign intelligence service MI6, said the Houthis will remain and keep control of a large part of Yemen for the foreseeable future.