Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) planned to invade Qatar, the Qatari defense minister said as the diplomatic crisis continues.
Speaking to the Washington Post last Friday, Defense Minister Khalid bin Mohammad Al-Attiyah accused his Gulf neighbors of their intention to destabilize his country by "invading," as reported by al-Jazeera.
"We have [defused] this intention. But at the beginning of the crisis, they had this intention," al-Attiyah said. "They tried to provoke the tribes. They used mosques against us. Then they tried to get some puppets to bring in and replace our leaders."
In early June, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain all abruptly severed diplomatic and trade ties with Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism. The four threatened to impose further sanctions on Doha if it failed to accept a long list of demands, including closure of Qatar-funded Al Jazeera television. U.S. President Donald Trump also accused Doha of funding militant groups, saying that Qatar had historically supported terrorism "at a very high level." The Qatari government has denied the accusations, blasting the blockade as unjustified and a violation of international law.