YEREVAN, JUNE 6, ARMENPRESS. The ongoing tension over Qatar will be most likely solved soon, it will not last long, expert on Arabic studies Sargis Grigoryan told a press conference in Armenpress.

“Qatar has significant resources to counter it. Qatar is not the state to wait and see what will happen. Thus, the tension will continue, but will not last long”, the expert said.

He said Saudi Arabia played a role in this process. It considers Qatar as an opponent which puts a shadow to Saudi Arabia’s political ambitions, and Qatar has that capacity. Qatar is the richest country in terms of GDP per capita, it is ranked 3^rd in the world with natural gas reserves, moreover, it also has significant information opportunities.

In response to a question according to which given that Qatar assists terrorist groups, and that Armenia lifts visa requirements for Qatari citizens, whether there is threat for Armenia, expert on Arabic studies Armen Petrosyan said there is no such threat.

“Qatar’s population is 2.6 million, from which 100.000 are citizens of the country. Armenia lifts ban for those who are citizens. And I don’t see terror threat for Armenia from here. When Qatar is blamed on assisting terror groups, the talk is not about citizens’ engagement in that processes, rather, it’s about the state’s assistance to extremist structures. Therefore, Armenia here is not targeted at any way”, Armen Petrosyan said.

He stated that if Qatar issue prolongs, the conflict will deepen, and in that case it will have to improve ties with Iran with the only way so that to ensure normal life. According to Petrosyan, Armenia can also have a role within the frames of Qatar-Iran economic cooperation.