On Tuesday, the Gulf crisis was resolved when the leaders of the countries in the region signed a declaration to restore ties with Qatar and end its blockade enforced since June 2017.
Saudi Arabia also announced restoring full diplomatic ties with Qatar. On Monday, Riyadh had announced that it would be reopening its airspace, land and sea borders with Qatar. However, it is not clear when the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt would restore ties with Doha.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman embraced Qatar’s emir upon his arrival at the summit in the city of Al-Ula. He emphasised the need for regional unity to “face challenges posed by Iran’s proxies and its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.”
After the summit, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan announced the restoration of diplomatic relations with Qatar, although no time frame was given.
He expressed happiness at “achieving this very important breakthrough that we believe will contribute very much to the stability and security of all our nations in the region.”
Kuwait emir launched mediation as Washington pushed for the restoration of peace in the Gulf region. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic ties with Qatar on June 5, 2017, accusing it of supporting terrorism and having close ties with Iran. Doha, however, denied the charges.
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif congratulated Qatar “for the success of its brave resistance to pressure and extortion.” In his message to Arab leaders, he said that Iran was neither an enemy nor threat to them or “your reckless patron on his way out,” pointing to Trump.
