Jan,
2021
2. The cause of the Qatar boycott and its
subsequent course[1]
Four countries, including Saudi Arabia, broke
up with Qatar for supporting the Islamic Brotherhood, which Qatar considers to
be a Sunni terrorist organization, through its ties with Shiite Iran. The UAE,
which is one of the strongest of the four countries, has made 13 demands on
Qatar, including breaking ties with Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood and closing
Al Jazeera TV[2].
Qatar naturally rejected those requests.
The isolated Qatar asked Turkey for help and
asked for military presence, importing groceries and other daily necessities
from the country. Qatar Airways also called on Iran to use territory as an
alternative to blocking its passage over Saudi Arabia. For Turkey, which is in
a slump, or Iran, which is an isolated Shiite, the request from the rich Sunni
state Qatar would have been "fishermen's interest". The Saudi and UAE
speculations that Qatar would soon succumb were dismissed. It was clear that
the GCC's internal conflict had no benefit to Member States, and while Kuwait
tried hard to mediate, the Qatar boycott remained stalemate for several years.
The situation changed in the second half of
last year. US President Donald Trump achieved great results in normalizing
diplomatic relations between Israel, UAE and Bahrain. He subsequently sent his
son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to GCC countries and persuade them to regain
cohesion[3].
The United States has embarked on it because GCC is an important ally against
Iran. The United States has a Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar with 10,000 soldiers[4].
US also has a naval base for the 5th Fleet in Bahrain. After the signing of
peace treaties with UAE and Bahrain, Israel's threat is now limited to Iran,
and the United States needs the GCC as its defense front line against Iran.
(cont’d)
By Areha Kazuya
E-mail: Arehakazuya1@gmail.com
[3] Kushner
eyes Gulf crisis on trip to region
2020/12/2
Kuwait Times
https://news.kuwaittimes.net/website/kushner-eyes-gulf-crisis-on-trip-to-region/
[4] ditto
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