End of Qatar Crisis

  • Saudi Arabia and its three Arab allies (Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt) would restore full ties with Qatar.
  • The ‘solidarity and stability’ deal was signed at the 41st Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit held in Al Ula, Saudi Arabia. 
  • It was brokered by US.
  • White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, assigned to work on the dispute by U.S. President Donald Trump, helped negotiate the deal.

WHAT WAS THE CRISIS?

  • In 2017, Saudi Arabia led an Arab transport blockade against Qatar.
  • It said that this was done to punish Doha for its ties with radical Islamist groups. 
  • The bigger motivation probably was to pressure Qatar into reducing diplomatic and economic relations with Iran, Saudi Arabia’s great rival in the region.
  • Coalition countries put 13 demands as conditions to resume relations.
  • Qatar called the embargo a violation of international laws and instead, strengthened ties with Iran and Turkey.

WHY QATAR ALWAYS HAD GREAT RELATIONS WITH IRAN?

  • Qatar shares a huge gas field with Iran, which is an incentive for it to retain good relations with the Shiite regime in Tehran.
  • Iran and Qatar jointly control the world's largest natural gas field - South Pars/North Dome field in the Persian Gulf.
GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL
  • Founded: 25 May 1981, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
  • Headquarters: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
  • Members: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE.

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