A high-ranking Qatari official, with extensive experience in the Gulf state’s foreign affairs ministry, informed CBS News on Wednesday that the Middle East has effectively entered a regional conflict, a scenario regional governments have cautioned about for years.
Dr. Majed Al-Ansari, who serves as an adviser to the Qatari prime minister and is the official spokesperson for the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, conveyed to CBS News that Gulf states had long cautioned that unchecked escalations—initially impacting Syria, then Gaza and Lebanon—carried the risk of escalating into a far larger conflict.
From Doha’s perspective, this grim forecast has now materialized.
“We explicitly stated that unchecked escalation would lead to a regional war,” he explained to CBS News. “What we are currently experiencing is, for all practical purposes, a regional war.”
He noted that Iran has targeted seven Gulf nations since the U.S. and Israel initiated their attack on the Islamic Republic on February 28, drawing countries into a conflict they wished to avoid.
Al-Ansari mentioned that the daily lives of Qataris have been disrupted, with missile alerts now appearing on phones during the night and interceptor missiles frequently visible overhead.
“This has become a routine event,” he stated. “We are woken up at 4 a.m. by alerts on our phones.”
“I never would have anticipated my daughters living in an environment where missiles are almost constantly overhead throughout the day,” al-Ansari added.