Pakistan not deploying troops in Qatar, FO refutes reports
Spokesperson for the office has reduced the foreign news to mere rumours
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News/AFP) – Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has cleared on Sunday that Pakistan is not to deploy troops in Qatar following Turkey and offers by Iran.
Nafees Zakaria, spokesperson for the office reduced the foreign news to mere rumours and branded the stories concocted.
The purpose of disseminating such stories is to create misunderstandings between Pakistan and Gulf states, he said. The news were carried by multiple foreign media outlets after Turkey offered Qatar to provide troops to ensure safety amid crisis while Iran offered food.
Reportedly, Iran has dispatched five aircrafts-full of vegetables to crisis-hit Qatar after Saudi Arabia-led Gulf alliance branded the state a terror-sponsor.
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"So far five planes carrying... vegetables have been sent to Qatar, each carrying around 90 tonnes of cargo, while another plane will be sent today," Iran Air spokesman Shahrokh Noushabadi said.
"We will continue deliveries as long as there is demand" from Qatar, Noushabadi added, without mentioning if these deliveries were exports or aid.
Three ships loaded with 350 tonnes of fruit and vegetables were also set to leave an Iranian port for Qatar, the Tasnim news agency quoted a local official as saying.
The port of Dayyer is Iran s closest port to Qatar.
In the biggest diplomatic crisis in the region in years, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, plus Egypt and Yemen, on Monday announced they were cutting all ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting extremism.
Iran has urged Qatar and neighbouring Gulf countries to engage in dialogue to resolve their dispute.
The Islamic republic has also opened its airspace to about 100 more Qatari flights a day, after Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates banned Qatari planes from their airspace.
The new flights have increased Iranian air traffic by 17 percent, the official state news agency has reported.
