Saudi Arabia's crown prince says Qatar will not be barred from an Arab summit in Riyadh later this month, but predicted the standoff with Doha could last a long time.

Prince Mohammed bin Salman's comments were made to local editors during a visit to Egypt this week and published Wednesday in the independent Al-Shorouk newspaper.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut ties with Qatar in June, accusing the tiny but super-rich Gulf state of supporting militant groups and forging close ties with Iran.

The prince described Iran, Turkey and militant groups as the “contemporary triangle of evil.” He said Saudi Arabia was seeking to end the close relations between Iran on the one hand and Russia and Syria on the other.