Gulf reconciliation: not love in Qatar, but hate in Iran

He added, in a videoconference with the session of the Sixth Forum in Rome for Mediterranean Dialogue, that any type of solution to the crisis must be comprehensive and preserve the unity of the Gulf.

He added: “We hope that things will go in the right direction, but we cannot predict whether the movement is imminent, or the conflict will be fully resolved, and we cannot say that all problems will be resolved in one day.”

For his part, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan said in a tweet on Twitter that he hopes Kuwait and the United States’ efforts to resolve the dispute between the Gulf states will be successful, and thanked the two countries for “points of converging view “.

Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Ahmed Nasser Al-Sabah said that progress had been made in efforts to resolve the dispute that had led Saudi Arabia and its allies to boycott Qatar since mid-2017.

“There have been fruitful discussions recently in which all parties have expressed interest in reaching a final agreement,” Al-Sabah added in a statement broadcast on Kuwait TV.

He thanked Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, for “recent efforts.”

Signs of progress came on the heels of several days of intense US-brokered talks, when Jared Kushner and his team traveled to Saudi Arabia and Qatar earlier in an attempt to break the deadlock in talks that had prevented a deal for years.

Despite the few details about the visit, reports expected Kushner to focus on efforts to resolve the three-year Gulf crisis.

Qatar’s official news agency stated that Sheikh Tamim discussed with Kushner “developments in the region”.

The United States and Kuwait worked to end the dispute after Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic, commercial and air ties with Qatar since mid-2017.

The Trump administration wants Saudi Arabia to open its airspace to flights from Qatar, which Doha is currently paying millions of dollars to operate over Iran, according to the New York Times.

In one of its recent attempts regarding Middle East diplomacy, the Trump administration is pushing for a deal to ease the blockade imposed on Qatar, but the goal may be a final blow to the Iranian economy before President Trump leaves. The charge.

Wednesday’s meeting with Qatari leaders by Jared Kushner, a senior adviser to the US president, and other White House officials raised the possibility of rerouting commercial flights from the Gulf state through Saudi airspace in Iran’s place, according to diplomatic sources familiar with the discussions.

This would reopen the air route that Qatar’s state airline had followed for years before Saudi Arabia and at least 3 neighboring countries cut it off by imposing an air, land and sea embargo on Qatar in 2017.

It would also deprive Iran of what diplomats described as an annual fee of around $ 100 million that Qatar Airways paid through its airspace, which is money that fuels Iran’s depleted economy, and allows Tehran’s leaders to fund. military programs more easily, which the Trump administration considers a threat, the newspaper reported. American New York Times, citing responsible sources.

Two US officials also outlined the goal of Kushner’s diplomatic campaign, which included a stopover in Saudi Arabia, to reach an agreement on the issue of opening the Saudi air route to Qatari aviation.

It was unclear whether the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia’s closest ally in the region, would similarly open up its airspace to Qatar.

A diplomat indicated that Kushner’s delegation did not stop in the UAE, indicating doubts about the UAE’s willingness to reconcile with Qatar.

This 3-year conflict between Arab countries is a source of great concern to the United States, not only because it is between regional allies that the Americans depend on for oil and military bases, but because it has fragmented the Trump administration’s efforts to isolate Iran in the Middle East and the world.

The ban, which began in June 2017, aims to punish Qatar for what the other four Arab countries have described as its support for terrorism.

Since then, the four countries have put in place a list of demands that Qatar must comply with before lifting the ban, including closing the Al-Jazeera news network and abandoning ties with Islamic organizations, especially the Muslim Brotherhood.

In an interview last September, the Qatari ambassador to the United States said that the open channel of communication between Qatar and Iran is “to sit together and resolve differences.”

Ambassador Sheikh Meshaal bin Hamad Al Thani addressed concerns about Iran’s nuclear and missile program. But he said, “We think the best approach is to have a dialogue and negotiate an agreement.”

Just two weeks ago, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also traveled to Qatar to deliver what one official called his special presentation on the issue of air routes to the Qatari government.

In a meeting with the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Pompeo discussed “the need to work together to confront threats to stability in the region, and the importance of overcoming divisions within the Gulf to continue to confront evil influence. Iran, “according to the statement from the US State Department.

On Wednesday, the White House declined to comment on the Kushner meetings in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

The persistence of low-level economic and diplomatic relations between Iran and Qatar for years has been one of the complaints that other Arab states have brought against the Qatari government.

Abdullah Al-Muallami, the Saudi ambassador to the United Nations, said in an interview on Tuesday: “There is no justification for a permanent boycott of Qatar,” but reiterated deep suspicions about the Qatari government, especially with what he described as its support for extremists.

Al-Mouallimi said: “There is no disagreement between us and Qatar that changes fate. We are a people and a country, and the brothers of Qatar are an extension of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Saudi Arabia is an extension of them.”

For a time, Trump appeared to be married to the Saudi axis in this row. But the Trump administration has gradually decided to negotiate the reunification of Qatar with its regional neighbors, as it sees the most important battle as against Iran.

Since 2018, when Trump withdrew the United States from the Iran nuclear deal, his administration has imposed economic sanctions against Tehran, depriving it of some $ 70 billion in oil revenue, and this has contributed to what Pompeo last month described as a reduction. 25 percent in the budget. Military to Iran last year.

Pompeo, who has taken the toughest stance against Iran among Trump advisers, has always insisted that Iranian revenue does not go to the benefit of the Iranian people, but rather to fund the missile programs and militias it supports in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.

He considered that easing the pressure on the Iranian economy, which was helped by Qatar’s overflight tariffs, would be, according to Pompeo, “a dangerous option that would weaken the new partnerships for peace in the region and only strengthen the Islamic Republic.”

An agreement to reroute Qatar Airways would allow the Trump administration to launch a final blow against Iran before leaving the White House next month.

Barbara A. Lev, a former US ambassador to the United Arab Emirates and a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said that if Saudi Arabia allowed Qatari flights through its airspace, “it would obviously be a victory. for Doha “.

“But if that’s all the US administration can do about the blockade, it shouldn’t be seen as a major diplomatic achievement,” Lev added. “In fact, it would be a cynical signal about the extent of the division between the Arab countries over the details or even the desire for reconciliation with Qatar.”

All four countries (Saudi Arabia, Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt) accuse Qatar of destabilizing the region by supporting militancy and terrorism, which Doha denies.

Since 2017, these countries have imposed restrictions on Qatar, including closing its land and sea borders and airspace. This has caused unrest in Qatar, which relies on imports to meet the basic needs of its 2.7 million people.

In June 2017, the four countries prepared a list of 13 requirements that they said Doha must meet to resolve the crisis.

The list included closing Al-Jazeera, cutting military relations with Turkey, closing a Turkish military base in Qatar, severing ties with the Muslim Brotherhood and reducing ties with Iran. Qatar described the list of demands as “unrealistic and impractical”.