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A senior official in the administration of US President Donald Trump said that a breakthrough has been made in the three-year conflict between Qatar and Saudi Arabia and three other Arab countries, and that an agreement is scheduled to be signed in Saudi Arabia to end the dispute tomorrow Tuesday.
“We have made great progress in the dispute between the Gulf Cooperation Council countries,” added the official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.
The official said that Jared Kushner, the senior White House adviser whom Trump assigned to work on resolving the dispute, helped negotiate the deal and kept calling until early morning this morning.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister had said in December that a solution to the dispute would appear soon. At the time, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a tweet on Twitter that he hoped that the Gulf reconciliation “will contribute to achieving political and economic stability and development for all the peoples of our region.”
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt imposed a diplomatic embargo on Qatar and cut travel and trade ties with it since mid-2017, accusing it of supporting terrorism. Qatar denied this, saying the ban was intended to undermine its sovereignty.
The official said Kushner will travel to the Saudi city of Al-Ula, accompanied by Middle East envoy Avi Berkowitz and Brian Hook, special adviser to the US State Department, to attend the ceremony.
Leaders from the Persian Gulf will meet in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for an annual summit, which is expected to announce an agreement to end the dispute.
According to the US official, according to the impending agreement, the four countries will end the blockade imposed on Qatar, provided that Qatar, in return, abandons the demands related to the blockade.
“By signing the fifth day, the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council, in addition to Egypt, will meet to sign an agreement to end the blockade and end the demands of Qatar,” the official said.
“It is really a breakthrough. The blockade will be lifted. This will allow travel between countries, as well as the transport of goods. It will lead to greater stability in the region,” he added.
