Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad cautioned a gathering of Muslim world leaders on Saturday of the threat of unilateral sanctions from western powers.
The Malaysian prime minister’s warning followed praises for Iran and Qatar, two nations present at the inaugural Kuala Lumpur Summit 2019 facing economic blockades.
He said other countries, especially those that are Muslim majority, are at risk of facing similar sanctions.
“Such sanctions and embargoes are not going to be exclusively for Iran and Qatar,” Mahathir said in his closing remark of the three-day summit.
“With the world witnessing nations making unilateral decisions to impose such punitive measures, Malaysia and other nations must always bear in mind that it can be imposed on any of us,” he added.
Iran has been under a Washington-backed embargo ever since US President Donald Trump abandoned the 2015 nuclear deal.
Qatar is locked in a geopolitical tussle with neighboring Saudi Arabia, which has imposed a trade blockade on claims that the gas-rich country is harboring terrorists.
The Qatari government has denied the charge and called the sanction an attempt at forcing the its tiny country into subservience.
“It is important for me to point out that Iran in particular, despite the years of sanctions, has been able to continue to progress and develop and it proudly stands as a nation with the fourth-highest number of engineers in the world,” the Star Online quoted him as saying.
“It was pointed out that if Muslim countries are independent and capable of standing on their own feet, we will not be subjected to such treatments,” said Mahathir.
“Qatar too has been subjected to embargoes and like Iran, it has managed to rise above it and progressed impressively.
Source: Agencies
