Qatar warns any US-Iran escalation would be 'catastrophic' for region

A military escalation between the United States and Iran would have grave consequences for the region, Qatar said Tuesday after Washington threatened strikes in response to a government crackdown on protests in the Islamic republic.

"We know that any escalation... would have catastrophic results in the region and beyond, and therefore we want to avoid that as much as possible," Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said at a press conference in Doha.