Qatar has fully rekindled its diplomatic relationship with state sponsor of terrorism Iran, disregarding the demands of U.S.-backed Arab countries that have severed ties with Doha to isolate it over its alleged links to the Islamic Republic and various jihadist groups.
“The state of Qatar expressed its aspiration to strengthen bilateral relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran in all fields,” revealed a Qatari Foreign Ministry statement issued Thursday, noting that the country’s ambassador would soon return to Iran.
In response to Sunni Qatar’s decision to restore ties with Shiite Iran, Bahram Ghasemi, a spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, said, “We welcome this measure by the Qatari government,” according to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
A regional diplomatic crisis unfolded in the Middle East in June involving several Sunni Middle Eastern countries criticizing Qatar for its support for Iran and other jihadist groups.
“In announcing its decision, Qatar made no mention of the diplomatic crisis roiling Gulf Arab nations since June, when Doha found its land, sea and air routes cut off by the four Arab states,” reports the Associated Press (AP), referring to the restoration of ties between Doha and Tehran. “Iran, which welcomed Doha’s decision, has sent food to Qatar and allowed its airplanes to increasingly use the Islamic Republic’s airspace.”
“Restoring diplomatic ties will undoubtedly anger those opposing Qatar in the regional dispute, chief among them Saudi Arabia, Iran’s regional rival,” it adds
U.S. President Donald Trump has come out in support of the various Middle Eastern countries, including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt.
Various analysts have linked Qatar to the Afghan Taliban, al-Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), and Hamas. Many of those same jihadist organizations have also been affiliated with Iran, particularly the Taliban, al-Qaeda, and Hamas.
The Qatari ambassador left Tehran in 2016, to show solidarity with its fellow Sunni nation Saudi Arabia, following the attacks on two Saudi diplomatic posts in Iran that were carried out in response to the execution of a prominent Shiite cleric in Saudi Arabia.
“Despite recalling its ambassador in 2016, Qatar maintained its valuable commercial ties to Iran. Qatar and Iran share a massive offshore natural gas field, called the South Pars Field by Tehran and the North Field by Doha,” points out AP.
After severing their ties with Qatar in early June, the Arab countries issued a list of 13 demands to Qatar, including that Doha close down diplomatic posts in Iran.
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