Transcription
Thanks for joining us, Mr. Prime Minister. Thank you very much.
Um, so you had the World Cup a few years ago here. It was very widely covered around the world, and part of, uh, the coverage, maybe the majority of the coverage, was not about soccer, football. It was about your country and how it was, you know, needed to come into line with the social mores of the West, etc. There was a lot of lecturing about, uh, to your country about the way that you live. Did you feel that?
Well, it's unfortunate, you know. There are the whole purpose of hosting the World Cup is to bring the world together in that country, to put the country in the spotlight about the football, about the tournament, and about people coming together. Unfortunately, uh, uh, countries and some NGOs try to use this as an opportunity to attack, uh, on values of the society itself, on the values of, of the country, of the community, by using it as an opportunity to change these values and to impose their own values on our country and our people. That's something that wasn't, was expected from our side, that we will be attacked. We will be, uh, uh, hearing a lot of lectures about, uh, values and, uh, things that don't belong to us. And basically, uh, our decision from the beginning was that we don't need to change the country for one month tournament, and I cannot change the value of a whole society and impose on them values that I don't believe in, and it's against, uh, every principle in our society, against the principles of Islam, against the principles of Christianity as well. Uh, uh, and that's basically, uh, uh, we said very clearly, we respect, uh, everybody who's coming here as long as they are respecting the laws in that country, as you are expecting from them when they visit any of your countries in Europe, to respect your laws. And basically, that's what we want from the people. Anything that happens in their personal life, it's their personal life, but nothing should happen in public against the laws of the state of Qatar. And we will never change. The problem is that those countries and NGOs put a lot of efforts in demonizing this World Cup in order to impose their values. Yet, there were many things happening around the world, and they are just turning a blind eye. If they put some efforts and energy on those real issues that are affecting human lives around the world, it would be much better than the waste investment that was in campaigns against the country to change its values, to impose new values which are not even, uh, uh, you know, related to us.
So why do you think that is? This used to be called cultural imperialism. Yeah. You know, taking your values and using force to impose them on another society. But this is probably the richest country per capita in the world. It's free. Qataris can come and go. They don't have to live here. They choose to live here. Um, and your values are thousands of years old. Why would it be important for an NGO? I thought they were supposed to be feeding people, but instead they're yelling at you for not having enough transgender Qataris. Like, what is the point of that? What, what do you think that actually is? What are they trying to do?
Well, I think it's, it's mainly driven by an agenda that, uh, these are the things that we would like to see in countries, uh, that they are not accepting it, you know, and societies that they are not accepting it. We, we need to make it normal for them. We need to normalize it. Second, a lot didn't accept the fact that a small Arab country can host a, a world-class tournament. Basically, they were like, you know, how a lot of attacks that why won the World Cup? Like, they don't have even the culture of the World Cup. I don't know what's, you know, what does it mean if, uh, if I am a country like a marginal country, I don't have the right to host a world tournament? And this is more about, honestly, like I see it like more racism and superiority. And that's, that's basically I think the main driver for this.
So an official here told me a funny story, and I want to check to see if it's true. This person told me that some bureau or commission in the United Nations was rating the human rights, yeah, here in Qatar and said, in order to score higher, you have to build nursing homes for your old people to live. And this person tried to explain, you know, we don't have nursing homes because old people, parents live with their children. But you built them anyway in order to get a higher score on this, and they remained empty. Is that true?
Well, it is true, actually. They are like, you know, uh, sometimes when you have international organizations trying to impose certain conditions in order to give you like the better status that will make you look good. It, uh, requires from you some steps that you will do that it's not even required needed here in, in this kind of society. Look, it's a very, it's a small country. Uh, the people here, family matters for us, parents matter for us. Uh, we are in debt to our parents until the last day of their life or in our lives, whatever comes first. Uh, if someone, uh, will leave his, will leave his parents alone without taking care of it, he will be publicly shamed by the society. It's not really an acceptable custom or or habit in this country to have your elder, to have your parents staying in a senior home. Uh, he's the one, the parents are the ones who took care of us when we were children until we grew up to become independent, and we should, we have the duty to take care of them, and that's really the genuine nature of the society. So that's why you end up with something that you don't need. It's not, uh, uh, it's not according to your value. It's not according to your religion. Uh, but we build it anyway to get, you know, to get the fancy branding.
It does. If you take three steps back, it's like they're mad at you because you don't have enough transgenders. They're mad at you because you don't put your parents in some institution. Maybe they're trying to break up your families.
Well, it, it can be a reason. Honestly, I don't know what is, what is really the purpose behind this, but, uh, uh, we see that, you know, a lot of things that are happening are attacks on, on, on humanity in general. It's, uh, when you, when you lose the family value, when you lose the connection between the family themselves, you will lose the connection between the people as well, on a broader level, on the people in the same neighborhood, and the people in the same region, in the same countries. And that's basically will just make us, you know, as individuals who are quote unquote independent from anyone. That's what we will feel. Yet, it will just make our societies vulnerable and easy to be penetrated. That's right. And that's, that's I think the main issue that we are facing and the main threat that we are facing.
You have seen, uh, Qatar. You, you spent now a few days in, and you have seen, came to my home, and you have seen that my home is surrounded by my family homes, and it's not, uh, I'm not really living in an isolation from, uh, from them. I'm the, why not? The nuclear family, the bigger family, and it's like it's all one, one community, one, one family. And basically, you can apply this and magnify it to the entire country. This is not the case for Muhammad. This is the case for everyone here. People, even when they move temporarily to another neighborhood or to another place, 10 minutes away from their family, they feel homesick. So it's, it's we believe that this is supposed to be the case for all the countries where families, family's bonds matter. Family's bonds, uh, really create from you, from your society, a strong society that's not easily penetrated, and that's what creates the national unity as well, in, in face of external threats and everything.
So that's kind of the key is that when you are cut off, when you're alone, you are powerless and you can be controlled.
Yeah. You can be penetrated. You can be penetrated. Yes. Very true.
Um, your country has been in the American media sporadically recently. Um, and it's under attack for reasons I don't, I don't fully understand. One of the reasons I wanted to come here was to understand why people are mad at you. And, um, I think you've got the biggest overseas US air base in, right near here. So you're clearly a US ally. Yeah. But I keep reading reference to Qatar as anti-American or pro-Islamist or a threat to the United States somehow. Where do those attacks come from, do you think?
Look, we, as a country, we always want to do the right things. And basically, the right things not for only for our people, but for our people, for our region, and for our friends. And when you are trying to do the right things, sometimes you change your mind, you know, when you hear this kind of criticism. But it wasn't really in our culture because we believe that it serves the real cause behind all these efforts is to bring peace. Peace for the people, peace for the region, and peace for our friends. And basically, the peace is like, is the main foundation for us for our people to prosper. And, uh, peace has a lot of enemies. A lot of enemies who want to undermine it for political reasons, who want to undermine it for economical reasons, who want to demonize your efforts in order to make sure that every step you will take will be suspicious. In order to control also, uh, uh, the parties that you are helping in that. And basically, uh, they don't know by doing such a thing, they are not harming us, but they are harming the region and they are harming our friends, including the United States. And having an ally like, and partner, and friend like Qatar, with the air base as one example, and working together very closely on a lot of issues, a lot of files, helping bringing Americans home from different countries, whether it was in the evacuation in Afghanistan, whether it's in American hostages all around the world, uh, mediating in different conflicts, uh, they basically, uh, if they, you know, keep criticizing Qatar and attacking Qatar, they think that this is just harming Qatar and Qatar's reputation. It's not. It's actually because we always like, you know, we go back to the results. We focus on the outcome, and we think about that that should be our objective, and we should focus there, and we shouldn't really disturb ourselves with any noise. But they don't know that this is harming the US and the US interests at the end of the day.
So, I, I, my sense is that part of the criticism and the confusion from Americans, um, well, there are, I think, two causes. One, you have a Hamas office here, and Hamas has been designated, I think, repeatedly by the US government and certainly by the Congress as a terror organization. And people say, well, how could you have a Hamas office here? What is that?
We have to go back to the root of this, of this office, like why, why it's here in the first place. And the Hamas office, when it was opened here in the first place, it was opened with full transparency and full consultation, and actually even request from the US. And this, the US asked you to put a Hamas office here? They are actually, they have asked us to open the channels with them and to have an established communication channel, with the same case what was applied to Taliban as well. And look, uh, uh, at the end of the day, if you have a presence of someone in your country and you are engaging and talking, it doesn't mean that you are endorsing his ideas. It doesn't mean that you are supporting him. We are, our, the purpose of this office was to facilitate peace, to stabilize the region, and to make sure that, uh, always it's serving the purpose. And you can go through even everything that, all the events that happened in the recent 10 years since the office was officially opened here in Doha. How many peace deals have been brokered from that office, through that channel? Many of them. 2014 was the discussion and the negotiations was initiated here and ended in Egypt. Uh, in 2018, 2020, 20 and 21, uh, with all those escalations, and many of escalations that we avoided, to prevent wars, there are many, plenty of them, you will lose count. Then after, uh, 7th of October, the first hostage deal that released the hostages, the women and children, was 109, and the foreigners was 109 hostages. November 23rd happened through that office. Second hostage deal, which we are going through right now, it was produced out of this office. So the office is a communication channel, and it doesn't, uh, uh, make me, you know, feeling shy that I speak with someone whom I have a disagreement with. President Trump spoke with, uh, North Korea. He didn't shy out from, he met with him. He engaged with him. He wants to put an end for the conflict. He wants to make a deal with him. He's a dealmaker. And this country basically is brokering deals at the, initially at the request of the US government. Yes. And it continued. Like, everything that we did, look, but I'm confident that throughout the years that I've been working under the leadership of the Amir, we are sure that every step we are taking, we are very transparent, coordinating with the US, and making sure that we are doing the right thing. So I have nothing wrong that I did that I am shying away from. I know that we have a lot of attacks, and unfortunately, we have attacks from the US legislation, like from the Congress, many times. Although we did it at the request of, of the government, yet, the Amir always tells me that if we are able to save a single life, it's worth everything. And I'll tell you something, we've been under a significant attack in the last 15 months during this war in Gaza. Unbelievable. No one would handle such an attack. And we worked tirelessly on achieving this deal. And the moment we went out to announce that a deal being achieved, and we see the celebration in the streets, whether it's in Gaza or in Israel, that moment makes us forget everything.
Um, you've been attacked with the US Congress. It, the core question for me is, if Qatar is an enemy of the United States, why is our air base here? Have there been calls to remove the air base?
Well, there are like some voices, uh, who, unfortunately, are very much misinformed that, uh, this will be, this is very critical for the US, for the US security to be here in this region. And, you know, actually, the base itself, when it moved in the first place, was moved after September 11th, yes, to Doha. And it was a very risky decision for any country to take. And we took it. We took it because of the friendship that we have with the US, because of the partnership that we are committing ourselves together with the US. And it turned out to be like the most important US base outside the United States. And basically, it served the security of the United States, but also it served the stability of this region.
If you're like us, you're probably a little tired of companies that claim to care about your privacy and then whip around without your knowledge and sell your data to the highest bidder. They do it all the time. They make a fortune off your private information. Everything about you, everything you do online can be sold, and it is. But there's one way to stop it. It's called ExpressVPN. ExpressVPN is an app that sends 100% of your online traffic through secure encrypted servers. Privacy is the point of the product. If you don't have it, everything you do online can be tracked and recorded by data brokers and then sold to pretty much anyone, including foreign governments. That seems like a total violation of your rights. But unfortunately, it's legal. ExpressVPN prevents it. It prevents data hawks from compiling your personal information. It blocks them from invasively profiting off what you do online. So, if you're new to using a VPN, rest easy, it's super easy. You just plug it in and it works. With ExpressVPN, their identity defender scours the sites of data brokers and requests that your information be removed. Right now, you can get an extra 4 months of ExpressVPN for free. Just scan the QR code on the screen or go to expressvpn.com/tucker.
So, the president's envoy in this region and to Ukraine and globally at this point is Steve Whit, his friend. Um, and Whipoff, who I think has done a good, for the record, I think has done a good job. Um, but was attacked in some US media for his connect. He had done business in your country and he was attacked as a tool of your government.
Well, you know, sometimes when you read the reports about Qatar, like you feel that this is a superpower that controls, you know, everyone, and everyone is a tool in the hand of Qatar. Look, this is all a joke. Uh, Steve is a respected businessman. He has done business. We didn't do anything wrong with him. We have done business. I, I've known him for a long time. I attended his son's wedding. Uh, I have a personal relationship. And all this happened before even the election, you know, before the election taking place. This was, I think, last February, just months before the election. And this friendship and relationship, it means that there's a trust between two people, and this trust will, of course, matter for, you know, the working relationship that we have and partnership that us and Qatar has. And it benefited the deal at the end of the day. The man traveled all the way. He stayed here. He spent a few days in Doha. He participated with us in the negotiation. He pushed when it was required. He did a great job. We, as you know, as partners, we achieved the deal at the end of the day. The deal wouldn't be achieved without, you know, with Qatar single-handedly or with the United States single-handedly. It needs all of us. All of us are one team and, uh, work together. Now, people are attacking him for his relation with and being a tool in. If you go back and trace back those people who are not interested in having a deal, not interested in having, they put their political interests ahead of the interests of even the hostages themselves. How many families in Israel celebrated the return of their loved ones? I'm not going to talk about as hundreds of thousands of people. They've been fed after a very long war. But just, you know, if you look at this and look at the ones who attacked someone like Steve Witkoff, who achieved and succeeded reaching this deal because of his relation with Qatar, is to make sure that the next time he calculates his steps. But Steve is a great man, straight shooter. Doesn't matter for him as it doesn't matter for us. We are friends. Yes, this is something I feel proud of that I have many friends in the United States, and those friends might become, you know, in certain positions in, whether in this administration or in the future administration. Doesn't mean that, you know, those friends will be like, uh, a tool in my, in our hand, or other hand. And basically, the people who are using this, they just, you know, the problem that they cannot take it that a small country can get the results. They, they always have to think about an external factor that bringing them these results. And when they look at it as a small country and with this amount of resources, the first thing it will come to their mind, oh, they are bribing everyone. I'm a country like any other country. I'm operating like any other country. I protect my people's interests. I protect my region's interests. I protect my friends. And that's what will always continue the same way.
So Trump gets elected in November, inaugurated in January, and immediately there's a ceasefire, almost immediately, with with Steve, leading the negotiations with your help. But that's coming after years of bloodshed, utterly destabilizing this part of the world, the world itself. Where was the B administration during all of that?
Look, uh, Tucker, if, what's really making me feel sad is that the agreement that we have achieved on the 15th of January this year is almost 95% the one, the framework that's been agreed in December, and the agreement that's been agreed in March 24. And it took all these months in order to, you know, to put it in motion. Uh, with the previous administration, we, we were working very closely. I mean, the director of the CIA is someone that I worked with, I respect a lot, and we did, you know, a lot of work together. Uh, the partnership was, honestly, you know, uh, exemplary. But, uh, at the end of the day, I think it's the calculations of, of one party over the other that, why would I do it now? Let me wait. And then President Trump, of course, they know there is no, like, there is no deal happening before the inauguration, as he announced. It might have a consequence, and I believe that that played a big role in this. But the fact is, they couldn't get a deal done, and he did. I think this is, look, also the way that Steve has managed, uh, to represent President Trump was also a very effective way.
One of the criticisms of your country is that you're too close to Iran. I should say you're very physically close to Iran. Yeah, we are physically close. How close?
It's, uh, around 120 miles away. Right across the water. Yeah, it's just, you know, you can have a boat ride in 90 minutes, you are there.
So, um, what is, how would you describe your relationship with Iran, and why do you think you're being criticized for it?
Look, it's, you know, Iran has, has a lot of problems with the West. We understand that. We acknowledge that they have problems with the region, with countries in the region. Yes. At the end of the day, uh, Iran is, you know, our next-door neighbor, and we have to, have to maintain a good relation with all our neighbors. We have a lot of things in common when it comes to the gas field, the largest gas field in the world. It's a partnership between us and Iran. It's half, two-thirds of it in, in the Qatar territory, and one-third is in the Iranian territory. This is in the Gulf. This is under the sea. Yeah. This is the one in, in the Gulf Sea. You have, I have to coordinate on environmental issues, like for example, the water, uh, contaminations. I have to, uh, coordinate on security issues, like smuggling, uh, uh. I have to have this relationship, this working relationship with Iran. But also, when you think about it from a bigger perspective, it's for the interest of the region to have a better relation for everyone in the region with Iran. And you have seen that there is a huge, uh, uh, progress in the relationship, uh, with Iran and the GCC, between Iran and the GCC, in the last few years. And basically, uh, uh, even the disagreement that we had on certain policies, for example, we worked against each other in Syria for 14 years. Against Iran? Against Iran. Yeah. Right. Which was backing Hezbollah, and, and the same thing in Lebanon. And those differences are put aside when it comes to the bilateral. We, we made the bilateral as a relationship of necessity, that we need to have this, uh, engagement together all the time. Those disagreements, we talk about them. We try to understand each other's concerns, and we try to find a common ground. And basically, that's what we expect from other countries to do when they have, when they are, you know, around neighbors, around neighbors that some others have disagreements with. You need to engage. Now, this is criticized in the US that we are close to Iran. In terms of what? In terms of policies that have controversies with, with the US? It's not true. Our policies have been very clear. Our policy is based on principles. It, our policy has zero enemies. We have to have friends with everyone. We would like to see peace in our region. We would like to see peace along the world. If there are, if we see innocent people under attack, whatever their backgrounds, we will always, uh, help them, and we'll support them. These are the things that our foreign policy stands, standing for. So, if they see me that, you know, uh, this is like putting me on a club on the other, they are watching me from thousands of miles away. They don't know what's happening in this region. They have no knowledge about it. This relationship, it's, uh, an important relationship, not for me, for the entire GCC, and for the entire GCC stability. Look, Tucker, I think that there is a misunderstanding, or let's say, maybe it's more about a legacy issue that the US needs to take care of the whole world's problems. This shouldn't be the case. Each region needs to address their own problems, needs to make sure that this region is stable. The US is the friend and the ally of, and partner of all the GCC countries. So the US expects from us to come to them with a vision that this is the way we would like to see the region, and that's the way we are going to work on the region, and we would like to have also your support in that direction. That's, I believe, how the relationship should work between us and the US. Not, I'm waiting for the US, what's the problem between them and Iran, and then I base my dealing with Iran based on what the US wants. The US is waiting to listen to me, what I need from Iran, because I am the friend of the US, and Iran is my next-door neighbor. And basically, I think this misunderstanding, or let's say the legacy issue, that's what's driving this whole narrative floating here and there. I think that, uh, uh, you know, one day everything will be resolved diplomatically. If I take a stand against my neighbor because of an external issue, very strong stand, what will I do if those two adversaries come together?
So, I think it's the policy of your government that you oppose Iran getting nuclear weapons. Certainly, your neighbors, of course, are on the record against it. Um, how close do you think Iran is to getting a nuclear weapon, to building one?
Well, look, actually, a nuclear weapon is bad for the region, for any country, whether it's Iran or any other country. But also, like, when it comes to, you know, developing a nuclear program, there are concerns, of course, whenever any nuclear program is developed around your region. And those concerns can be not only military concerns, but also security and, like, safety concerns. That, as I mentioned to you, when, if, if the water is contaminated, the nuclear, uh, facilities of Iran are on the other side of the coast. It's closer to Doha than Bahrain itself. So the risks and the threats are affecting me, my country, affecting other countries in the GCC more, even.
So there's a nuclear site directly across from you.
Yeah. And that's basically, uh, uh, you know, that's why it's putting the entire region in a lot of risk if there is no clear standards for managing those nuclear facilities, and those clear standards ensuring that this is a nuclear, uh, power plants that will be used for peaceful use. Now, who's who's right and who's wrong, this is not for me to judge yet. What we would like to see, we would like to see a nuclear program that complies with international standards. We are speaking with the Iranians all the time that we need to work together. We need to work with the IAEA in order to ensure that those standards are followed. There are a lot of, uh, news and headlines we see that Iran is close to a nuclear weapon. This is nothing, uh, we have ever heard, we have ever seen, I mean, or experienced. Even our engagement with, uh, with the leaders there, even with the Supreme Leader, uh, he said very clearly that he has issued a fatwa or a declaration that Iran will never go for a nuclear bomb. And basically, this has also its moral status within the country. Uh, so I hope that we can reach to a solution, a diplomatic solution, where, you know, there is prosperity for the region, sanctions are lifted, nuclear program is peaceful, and assurances for the entire region. And this is, will be, I think, a booster for the region's development and prosperity.
So there's a great deal of pressure in Washington on the White House and on the Congress to participate in or sign off on, uh, an attack, an aerial bombardment of the Iran nuclear sites, however many there actually are. One of which, as you said, is directly across from you. So you think about this a lot. Um, what would be the consequences if that happens? And that's not theoretical, as you know, that that could happen. Yeah. Soon. What would happen next?
Well, I think it will just, uh, will be a start of, of a war that will spread all over the region. And basically, do we expect from any country to get attacked and to stay silent? There will be a reaction. Those reactions and retaliations, where it's going to be? Are they going to reach thousands of miles away? They are going to be in the region. And basically, every country in the region, our concern from such a step, because it will affect our security, number one. But also for country like the US, it will affect their security as well. They have a big stake in that region, whether it's in military bases, whether it's an energy facilities in that region, economic interests, forget about everything, educational facilities. So all those, you know, uh, uh, interests will be affected if something, God forbid, happens in that region. Look, we, there is no way that we would, you know, support any kind of military step in that region, and we will not give up until we see a diplomatic solution between the US and Iran. This needs to reach to an agreement.
May, may I ask, just going back a second? You've said that that there's the Iranian nuclear facility directly across the water from you. If that were blown up and nuclear material wound up in the water, since it's right on the water, what would happen to the water?
This will be basically entirely contaminated. We have run this exercise of risk in the country. Few years ago, before we bought, we, before we built our reservoirs, we had the water that we use for our people is from desalination, and we don't have rivers, we don't have water reserves. And basically, the country would run out of water in three days. So the whole country? The whole country. Now, after the reservoirs, we increased that capacity, and we are keep increasing it. But this is not only applied for Qatar. This is applied for Qatar. This is applied for Kuwait. This is applied for UAE. It's all of us in that part.
So if that nuclear site gets blown up and nuclear material winds up in the water, none of those countries have water.
No water, no fish, no nothing. Like, no life.
Oh, so that would be a history-changing environmental catastrophe.
It is an environmental catastrophe. That's why I'm, you know, that's why I'm telling you, that's the position on the map and the region with Iran. A lot of people, they, they don't even understand it. I remember when once I went to, you know, visit the US Congress, and I was meeting with one US senator, and we were talking, discussing about Iran, and he said, basically, you don't have, uh, you don't have to deal with them. And I drew for him a map on his desk. For the first time, he realized that this is, these two countries are that close to each other. So there are a lot who doesn't see this region as close, you know, to Iran, and like it's too intertwined.
So they don't have maps in the Senate?
No, they do have maps, but probably they don't know. We are very small.
Do you think, um, I mean, to the extent you can say, I should say you're the Prime Minister, but you're also the Foreign Minister. So you, this is what you do all day, every day. Um, but to the extent you can say, do you think that the Iranian government is willing to deescalate through negotiation, open up its nuclear sites to international inspection of some kind, reassure the world they're not two weeks away from getting a bomb, as we read practically every day on the internet, whether it's true or not? I mean, do you think that's achievable?
Well, I think it is achievable. And actually, all the engagement that we had with the Iranian officials, as, as I mentioned to you, it's, uh, uh, we were just there a few days ago, actually, and engaging with the president, engaging with the Supreme Leader, with the Foreign Minister over there, in order to find a diplomatic solution. And basically, they are willing to engage. They are willing to, uh, get to a level that creates comfort for everybody. And most importantly, they are focused on mending their relationship with the region. And that's, uh, that's something in itself. It, it can create a lot of progress in, in, in every front with Iran. So I believe there is an opportunity now. Uh, uh, we, you know, we come back to the question, the chicken and the egg, which come first. I believe we should forget about these questions and, you know, get the parties together, start to understand each other's concerns. And basically, if everything is complying with the international standards, I don't see any reason why we don't have a deal.
It is essential. All mammals do it, but only people have trouble doing it at night. You want to get into bed, feel great, and pass out. But how do you do that without drugs? Well, Cozy Earth is one way. Cozy Earth makes an amazing bamboo sheet set that sounds weird, but is awesome. Next level soft. They're temperature regulating, and they let you stay cool and comfortable all night long, and it really helps your sleep. Cozy Earth makes them. They also make bath sheets, the perfect addition to your shower routine. Huge, super absorbent, stunningly soft. You'll never want to go back once you go the full enormous soft bath towel route. Cozy Earth is all about turning your house into a sanctuary where you can unwind, recharge, sleep. They make it risk-free with a 100-night sleep trial and a 10-year warranty. Really? Yep. 100 nights, 10 years. Go to cozyearth.com/tucker. Use the code tucker for up to 40% off. That would include sheets, towels, pajamas, and more. cozyearth.com/tucker and you get a post-purchase survey. They probably sent it to you. Tell them you heard about it here. That's good for everybody. We hope you enjoy it.
Um, there's talk of the United States increasing sanctions on Iran. Um, I didn't know that was possible, but Iran has been under some form of sanctions for almost 50 years. Uh, 46 years, I think. Have they achieved their intended goal? And bigger picture, have you ever seen sanctions against anybody achieve their intended goal?
Uh, look, this, uh, this issue is very, uh, controversial. First, as a principle for, for my country, for the state of Qatar, we see unilateral sanctions as ineffective and it's punishing the people, not punishing a country or a regime. That's number one. They still have the revolutionary government from 1979 in power. Yeah. I mean, if this is, if it has, if it would lead to a result, we wouldn't be in, in that situation until Fidel Castro died in Havana. Yeah. After 50 years of US sanctions. So, so just, you know, going back, sanctions, what does it create? Pressures the people, it starves them. It creates black markets. It creates a whole illegal system. It, uh, if the sanctions are coming out of the US, it actually prevents all the US interests or companies to have business and lose the opportunities for other countries. So I don't see a world where the sanctions work. Honestly, for us, as I told you, it's a core principle in our foreign policy. We refuse. We don't, uh, we don't support sanctions at all. And sanctioning countries, I'm talking about, and sanctioning countries is just making the situation much worse.
Well, can I just ask? So, three of the biggest oil-producing countries in the world, Venezuela, Russia, Iran, have been under, I mean, the most extensive sanctions in history. Yes. They're still selling oil though. Oh, yeah. Like a lot of oil. Yeah. Much. Yeah.
I think, I think it's, uh, mainly it's sold in different means, in different currencies. And look, Tucker, I, I recall when the Russian sanctions came out at the beginning, beginning of the war on between Russia and Ukraine. I had an interview in one of the US media channels, and I said very clearly that sanctions will only create a parallel marketplace for other currencies. So the dollar dominated international currency, you will start to see people moving, countries moving away from that. Yes. By the time, so it won't benefit. It won't benefit, uh, it won't get you what you want. It's the contrary. That's basically, uh, what's been, you know, at the end, like any country like Venezuela, for example, or Iran. They need to survive. They need to feed their people. They need to get, you know, at least the basic requirements that they want. They will find ways to sell, sell their oils. They will find ways to use other currencies. They will find markets who will accept them and, you know, selling them and buying from them. And that's basically, you, you created like a parallel market. And that's, that's what I've been saying.
So you cut out US countries, you weaken the US dollar, you make the country more repressive, inevitably, but you don't dislodge the leadership, whether it's Putin, Chavez, Maduro, the in Iran, Fidel, El Castro, and you don't prevent them from selling their oil in international markets. So why exactly would you levy sanctions?
Honestly, look, from, at least, you know, my, my humble experience looking at all those sanctioned countries in the last, let's say, you know, I, I always like to talk about my tenure in diplomacy, which is 10 years. In the last 10 years, I've seen a lot of sanctions floating around on, on a lot of countries. None of these sanctions has achieved the results that's intended for.
Well, I mean, I think that's true. That's not an ideological point. I think that's like factually true, right?
It is factually true. Yeah.
So, why does the, why do we keep doing it? Just, you know, if you go and name a single country that has a regime change, yes. Or an entire like behavior change to the good because of sanctions, you will not find any.
Okay. So again, I don't think what you're saying should be controversial because it's provable. Yeah. Go to Wikipedia. Yeah. So why, I mean, just, I think this morning I was reading, we're going to sanction this person more. What? There's got to be some reason that the US Congress and various administrations have continued to want to do this, even though there's absolute proof that it doesn't work. What would be the reason to do it?
Well, look, as I told you, you know, when, when you have, like, if you don't talk to the other party, if you don't want to use military, which is something that we never advise for, the only tool will be will remain in your hand is sanctions to show power and to show leverage, which some people, they think that this is leverage and power, which is not.
Well, it doesn't seem to be. No power is measurable, right? Actually, look, as you know, just, you know, if you go through every, like, every sanctioned country, it never achieved the objective. That's what I want to say here. Yeah.
I, I think that's, uh, it's true.
Um, how does the Ukraine war end, do you think?
Well, look, you know, uh, there is a lesson that history taught us that there is no war started with one of the parties wanting the war. Always two parties, they don't want the war, and they end up in a war. And there is no war ended without a negotiation around the negotiation table to find a peaceful solution, how, despite how long it took. So this war will end at the end of the day around the negotiations. Now, if you look at the recent efforts that President Trump is doing, and, uh, together with the Kingdom of Saudi, I believe this is the right direction, the right path forward, because, you know, we were, like, when the war started, uh, as the state of Qatar, we always like, you know, express our willingness to help, to support if there is any chance for mediation. We looked at it. It's something far away. It's in Europe. Yet, we have some experience in mediation, which is a track record that we have built throughout the year, and we saw that this conflict is too complicated. We tried to break it down to smaller mediation efforts, and we were working on the children file, for example, Russian and Ukrainian children, bringing them back to their families. We were working on the energy file, but unfortunately, it didn't, uh, it didn't work out, uh, in order to build a foundation for, you know, uh, someone like President Trump to come and to broker a peace deal. I believe it is the moment. I believe that the steps that's being taken are the right steps, and basically the way it ends, it should be the way that it addresses both countries' concerns. I think that the Ukrainians have legitimate concerns that they need to address, and the Russians have legitimate concerns that the Ukrainians need to address. And I believe this will never reach a solution unless there is some, you know, uh, direct talks between them, and also, uh, uh, some demonstration of support from the partners of both Ukraine and Russia that they need to put an end for this, and they need to understand each other's concerns, and they need to take them into consideration. And the partners' role is to give them the assurances and the comfort that those considerations will be taken seriously.
I hate to say it, but I think Russia's partners are probably willing to express support for a settlement. I, I don't know if Ukraine are, and that would be Europe, Great Britain, um, and Western Europe. And I mean, you just saw the Prime Minister of Britain say the other day, we're going to send British troops to Ukraine.
Well, it's, uh, you know, at the end of the day, as I told you, it's, uh, it's an issue between Russia and Ukraine, and they need to, they need to address it themselves. They need to get the assurances that, you know, both countries, uh, need. Uh, I think that within even within the EU, not everyone is sharing the same opinion, I believe. But at the end of the day, they will come, they will come down to a conclusion that this issue needs to be settled peacefully, and this issue needs to take into consideration everyone's concerns.
You, uh, participated in a successful, um, ceasefire, uh, between Israel and, and Gaza. And, uh, who knows if that lasts. I mean, I don't know when this is going to air, so I don't even want to speculate. But, um, but clearly it's been awful for everybody. Certainly, certainly been awful for Gaza. It's been awful for its neighbors. I think it's been really bad for Israel. I mean, it's just kind of hard to see an upside. So, how would you, if you were in charge, fix this, you know, 80-year-old conflict for good?
It's going, going back to the basics. You know, if you look at the history since the Madrid declaration in the '90s, where Israel needed to be integrated in the region, economic normalization should happen between the countries in the region, and a political horizon for the Palestinians to establish their own state on the borders of 1967, which is according to the Security Council resolutions. Since that time until today, we didn't see anything. But the situation is going backward. More settlements, more violence, more, you know, policies which are destructive for the Palestinians, unfortunately. And basically, uh, uh, we are expecting from the Palestinians, you know, just to obey, to stay quiet, and not, you know, there will not never be any, anything instigated. This is normal, you know, when you have, you know, a situation that's lasting that long to have this kind of turbulence all the time. And I'm not talking here about 7th of October, I'm talking about the entire period. How many wars have we had? We had a lot of them. A lot of people, we hear them saying that we need to try something new, we need to try things that we are not even, you know, thinking about. Yes, we agree. The two-state solution, we've been talking about. We never tried this. Have we ever tried it?
And didn't work? Does this country that's established next to Israel will be a threat for Israel? It's a threat as long as it's not a country. And we said that we are willing to provide security guarantees for Israel. We all of us, we will be integrated together as one region and demilitarized Palestinian state, even. So, it's not even like, you know, fully independent, not even a real country if it's demilitarized. So, it's, it's basically like everything you are offering, and in exchange, we all, we were always like, you know, either because of their political situation in Israel, like we were always faced by rejections. There were just few leaders in Israel who had the courage to come out and to say that this is, this is the only solution. This is the only way forward. But in the last few years, we, we didn't see any of them.
Do you think Donald Trump can force a Palestinian state? I think, you know, look, President Trump, he's, he's a great dealmaker. He's a great businessman. He's very successful. He made, brokered many deals, uh, around the world during the first administration. And I believe if we will have peace one day, this is the best opportunity for us with someone like President Trump.
Um, are you, is Qatar at net zero? I know there was some enthusiasm about making sure you got to net zero. Uh, well, if you see, you know, the largest exporter of LNG and net zero, I think there is something happening wrong. Does that mean you're dead? If you're net zero, we are, we, we are, look, we are, uh, we are committed first of all that, uh, you know, uh, wait, aren't you supposed to pretend you're getting to net zero? Look, I'm, I'm not, I'm not, you know, going to pretend that anything that I'm not going to do, but the gas has proven that it is the most important reliable base load source of energy for the next century, maybe. So, and the gas is much cleaner than a lot of other energy resources and benefiting the environment, benefiting a lot of countries, switching from coal to gas, and that's what we are producing, that's what we are focusing on now. Countries who were just, you know, rushing to get to net zero and trying to impose some, uh, you know, green policies that are not realistic, they are attracting from those policies now. Yeah. You see them like, you know, uh, some of them, they got, they are going back to coal. Well, they're also on the verge of revolution in some cases because they destroyed the lives of their people. Yeah. So, it's, it's basically also, it's not fair when you try to impose, you know, these kind of regulations in countries that they have their resources not being developed, not being exploited, and there they have no electricity even, like Africa, for example, and you want to make sure that no, everything there is green, is everything net, to reach net zero, and you are not allowed to come and to exploit your energy, but I don't have electricity. So, the whole concept, I think, it's, uh, right now, there is a lot of debate, there is a lot of, you know, argument about it, and, uh, I'm not sure if the world will be able to achieve it. Look, we understand the danger of the climate, we understand the danger of the climate change, but it doesn't mean that we shoot ourselves in the foot. We need to think about it wisely. We need to think about gradually. And look, Tucker, once, actually, maybe I told you in a separate meeting, that, you know, the pyramid of, of the needs of the people. First, security, then food and water, then health, energy, education, education, strong economy, and then climate change and the environment. So, we are living in a region that's barely handling the three, like the three layers of foundation, and people like coming and, you know, trying to impose on us the tip of that. We need to make sure that our neighbors, our surrounding are secured. We need to ensure that they are fed. We need to ensure that they have enough healthcare. We need to ensure that they have a good education. We need to make sure that they have energy, access to energy in the first place.
Time for another true life ALP story. I got a call from a friend of mine yesterday, honestly. True story, who said his girlfriend had just broken up with him over ALP. He wouldn't stop. And I thought to myself, that's kind of sad. And he said, "No, it's not sad. Imagine if I'd married her." Now I know I was saved. Then the next day, this same friend is driving at twice the speed limit through a major American city, pulled over by a cop in a speed trap. Cop takes his license, registration, goes back to the patrol car, runs him, comes back, looks in the window, and sees a tin of ALP on the dashboard, pauses, stunned, says to my friend, "You use Alp?" "Yeah, I do," says my friend. "So do I," says the cop. "We all do." He looks at my friend thoughtfully and goes, "Drive safely, sir." And hands back his license and registration. "No ticket." So, in two days, he's saved from a tragic marriage to a girl who doesn't like Alp and a speeding ticket. All true. It's more than a nicotine marriage. In a nation of 350 million people, we're guessing there are about 350 million ALP stories. Email us yours. We want to know and read it on the air. Email tellpouch.com. Tell all at elpouch.com. Give us your ALP story.
It does seem like things have changed just in the past six months, partly because of the electricity needs of AI, of EVs, all the stuff baked in the cake. The clear limits of renewables, like they can't actually run a modern society. That's all obvious now. Um, and so a lot of investment funds and politicians have sort of pulled back from the net zero theology. But what's amazing to me is that it seems like some of them really believed it. I mean, in the case of Qatar, you were opening up a new gas field, and I think some like even energy people laughed at you and said that there's kind of no future for gas. Yeah. Well, look, uh, why did they say that? This actually happened to us twice. Once when we started the gas exploitation, it wasn't yet the future of the energy at that time. This was back in the early 90s, and uh, we took the risk. Qatar was in a totally different economic situation at that time. We took a great risk. We, we put a lot of, you know, pressure on the country and the needs of the country. And apparently, the LNG picked up and became one of the main sources. Then, uh, uh, at the peak of, uh, the net zero and the green agenda, we announced the expansion of our production, which was back in 2018, and we decided to go on to invest. And at that time, uh, the, you can read reports from, uh, the IMF, for example, that you will that a lot of countries will end up with a lot of oil and gas, but with no money because they will have no countries to sell the gas to, or they will have no, uh, uh, markets to sell their oil to. And this was just in 2018, and like everyone was panicked. The same in the same year, we have announced that we are going to expand our gas field production and we are hoping to double it by 2030. So, from 77 million cubic tons, which was peaked in 2011 and continued being sustained until today, by 2030, we will reach 144, and that's basically will be the biggest.
So, there was a projection in 2018 that no one would want to buy your natural gas after 2050. Who, who, who made that? I mean, that's like, that's an IMF report, actually. It's not a projection for, but it was for the entire GCC, and basically that's so far out of whack with observable reality, like that's that's insane. Obviously, it's not, it wasn't, I mean, like we had the debate about this within our government at that time, and we didn't, we didn't believe it. We, we have seen that the requirement for the energy will just increase. We have, we were watching the revolution in a lot of technologies, and we, we have seen that whether it's the green hydrogen, the blue hydrogen, uh, the renewables, all of them, they cannot never be cost-effective in the next 10, 15 years, and maybe more, and they will not be enough. The base load, you will always need an energy mix, and the base load of this mix will be the LNG, will remain always the gas. So, that was obvious to just interested non-experts like me, or just people who read about it like on the side. Um, but the IMF researchers and, you know, energy analysts who came up with this projection, do you think they really believed it? Well, I, I don't know, honestly. I mean, we were like, at the beginning, when we have seen these reports, we, we were just questioning why they are doing that. It was like part of the global, uh, sustainability agenda, and probably this is an idea that all international organizations agreed to promote, and basically, it's the same thing like, you know, uh, when it comes to those organizations, you always see a common agenda item that everyone is advocating to, at all the same direction.
Look, so they're lying to you in order to keep you from. We have nothing against, you know, the green and the climate change. It's, it's something that all of us, we need for our survival, for our planet. Yes. But also, we need to be realistic in our approach. We need to make sure that, uh, uh, this progress is not harming us. It's benefiting us. It's not because we want to make sure that the planet lasts, uh, forever, that, uh, our people doesn't last forever. I mean, it's, it's basically, it's, it's really a miscalculation. Now, another example, I will, I want to give you, like, for example, in our partnership with the US in the gas area, we have, um, during, you know, the time before, like the fracking and the shell gas in in the US, we were supplying the US with LNG at a certain point of time, and we built this, what's so called, the Golden Pass, uh, in Texas, in order to be a receiving terminal for LNG during President Trump's time, and in the first administration. We signed with him, we signed during his administration to make it as a sending terminal. So, all the gas, the US gas will, uh, will be exported through that terminal, which is a partnership between Energy and Exon Mobile.
So, to explain, you take natural gas out of the ground, it's often found with oil, but then you have to basically freeze it. Yes. And make it to convert it to a liquid state in order to ship it across the ocean. Yes. So, LNG is liquefied natural gas. That's what you're talking about. Liquefied natural gas. Yes. And then you have also, beside that, during the same, uh, meeting when during the previous administration with President Trump, the first one, we have signed the largest, single largest petrochemical plant in the world. It's called the Golden Triangle, which hopefully will be online very soon. And that's what will provide the basic, uh, feed stock for all the industries in the United States, which is, uh, uh, the polymers. And this is also a partnership between Qatar Energy and US companies. I mean, looking back, I think we can be a little bit more, uh, critical and try to understand what the green agenda was or net zero was. Um, but no one ever explained without natural gas, how are you going to get fertilizer and plastic? Did anyone ever explain that to you? No, they have no answers. Even, I mean, look, even people with, like, who are adopting, uh, the green agenda, when they are talking about electricity, for example, generating from green energy, green resources, those electricity will need batteries. Batteries will need lithiums for the EVs. Yeah. This lithium, when you mine those lithium, what is the effect on the environment? Oh, I know. And when, if you calculate it, it's much worse for the planet and for the land than the oil and the gas combined, and maybe from the coal as well. So, it wasn't really well thought of. It was something that I believe was, you know, taken to a direction that doesn't serve the interest of the entire world.
Does it make you nervous that the smartest, most powerful people in the world could jump to conclusions they didn't think through without evidence, that they could just say something was true without knowing it was true and thinking through the consequences? I mean, it seems like a kind of mass insanity that took over the world. It keeps us up all night, does it? Me, too, Mr. Premier. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Thank you.
[Music]
So, it turns out that YouTube is suppressing this show. On one level, that's not surprising. That's what they do. But on another level, it's shocking. With everything that's going on in the world right now, all the change taking place in our economy and our politics, with the wars we're on the cusp of fighting right now, Google has decided you should have less information rather than more. And that is totally wrong. It's immoral. What can you do about it? Well, we could whine about it. That's a waste of time. We're not in charge of Google. Or we could find a way around it. A way that you could actually get information that is true, not intentionally deceptive. The way to do that on YouTube, we think, is to subscribe to our channel. Subscribe. Hit the little bell icon to be notified when we upload and share this video. That way, you'll have a much higher chance of hearing actual news and information. So, we hope that you'll do.