Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to restore relations after 2017 diplomatic crisis

Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will restore their diplomatic relations and reopen their embassies soon, according to sayings from several officials from both countries, more than two years after some Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states and Egypt imposed a blockade on Qatar.

“Currently, the activation of diplomatic relations, which will include the reopening of embassies, is in process between the two countries,” a UAE official said.

“Work is underway between the Qatari and Emirati teams to reopen the respective embassies as soon as possible, the exact date to be announced at the end of the process,” Qatar’s International Media Office said.

“Regarding the opening of embassies between the two countries, I believe it will be in the coming weeks,” Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majid Al-Ansari said.

However, another Gulf official said the embassies were expected to reopen in mid-June.

“The UAE’s foreign policy mainly focuses on bridge building, economic cooperation, and regional de-escalation.”

“Since the signing of the Al-Ula Declaration in January 2021, the UAE has restored relations with the State of Qatar with several visits between the two countries, which included discussions on developing relations and jointly achieving greater mutual prosperity and progress for the two countries and the wider region,” the UAE said.

Relations between Qatar and the UAE have improved since February last year when Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani met with UAE ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan for the first time since the end of the blockade.

Riyadh and Cairo were the first to reappoint ambassadors to Doha in 2021, while Manama announced last week that it would restore diplomatic relations with Doha.

The development should come as no surprise and “comes after a long period of high-level dialogue and visits between the two,” said Anna Jacobs, an analyst with the International Crisis Group.

The agreement to end the three-and-a-half-year political and economic blockade on Qatar imposed by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain took place in January 2021.

In mid-2017, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt cut all political and economic ties with Qatar over allegations linked to terrorist financing and rapprochement with Iran and Turkey.

As a result, the four countries presented 13 demands to Qatar, including:

• the closure of Al Jazeera, a Qatari media outlet that was accused of interfering in its internal affairs by denouncing the repression of the revolts resulting from the Arab Spring;
• the closure of the Turkish military base and the severing of its ties with Iran;
• ending the financing of Islamic terrorism, especially Hamas and Hezbollah;
• alignment with the GCC countries in military, political, social, and economic matters, and financial matters,
• and the handing over of internationally persecuted terrorists held in Qatari territory.

Turkey, with whom it had aligned itself years earlier by supporting the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, was the main Qatari savior regarding food supply.

The country commanded by Recep Tayyip Erdogan allowed the continuous flow and shipment of these goods.

In addition, ports in neighboring countries were used to ensure supplies, such as the ports of Sohar and Salalah in Oman, Karachi in Pakistan, Shuwaikh in Kuwait, Mundra and Nahva Seva in India, and Bushehr in Iran.

The reestablishment of diplomatic ties occurs amid a regional context of cooperation and good neighborliness.

Evidence of this has been the reconciliation with Iran and Saudi Arabia, the movement to end Syria’s isolation, and the peace meetings and new agreements between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia.

With information from La Derecha Diario