Saudi Arabia in the Middle East has announced that it has agreed with other Gulf countries and others to restore diplomatic relations with neighboring Qatar, which has been severing diplomatic relations for three and a half years.
It is in response to the mediation of the United States, which wants to unite the Gulf countries and strengthen the siege of Iran, but it is unclear whether the reconciliation will proceed at once in the future.
In June 2017, Saudi Arabia, along with UAE = United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt, cut off diplomatic relations with Qatar due to the approach to conflicting Iran, stopped traffic and logistics, and increased pressure. I did.
In response, the United States, which wants to unite the Gulf countries and strengthen the siege of Iran, has acted as an intermediary.
Under these circumstances, Qatar's chief Tamim, who had been in contact with the GCC = Gulf Cooperation Council summit held in Ula, northwestern Saudi Arabia, was invited and Prince Muhammad of Saudi Arabia met at the airport.
After the meeting, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Faisal announced that he had agreed to restore diplomatic relations with Qatar with the three diplomatic nations.
Saudi Arabia has so far asked Qatar, which promotes its own diplomacy, to reduce its diplomatic relations with Iran, but Qatar did not respond to this, and instead deepened its relations with Iran.
For this reason, it is unclear whether Qatar will review its relations with Iran and reconcile with the Gulf countries at once, as expected by the United States and Saudi Arabia.
Expert "Diplomatic acceleration by rushing"
Regarding the agreement between Saudi Arabia and Qatar to restore diplomatic relations, Koichi Nakagawa, a former diplomat and senior researcher at Mitsubishi Research Institute, who is familiar with the US Middle East policy, said, "Trump is only two weeks before the inauguration of the next administration of Biden. The rush diplomacy between the president and the leaders of Arab countries is accelerating. "
On the other hand, Senior Researcher Nakagawa commented on the future relationship between the Biden administration and the Arab countries, saying, "What is common to both the leaders of Arab countries and the leaders of Iran is that the members who will be in charge of the Middle East policy in the next administration of Biden are not decided. In the midst of uncertainty about the situation in the Middle East, it seems that he wants to face the next administration of Biden from a strong position and do things in his own country. " doing.
Background of Qatar diplomatic relations
Qatar in the Middle East is a country on the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula, a small country with a population of 2.8 million between Saudi Arabia and Iran, a regional power in the Middle East, but it is one of the world's leading exporters of natural gas and has abundant financial resources. Has been developing.
The international airport in Doha, the capital, is based in Qatar Airways, which connects all over the world, and has grown into a regional hub, with the first Soccer World Cup in the Middle East scheduled for next year.
On the diplomatic side, while the Gulf countries are in line with Saudi Arabia, they have developed their own diplomacy, such as accepting Turkish troops competing for hegemony and building good relations with conflicting Iran.
In addition, Al Jazeera, a satellite television station funded by the government, continues to report on the dictatorial political system in other Arab countries as a problem, and is also unique in terms of information strategy.
Under these circumstances, three and a half years ago, Saudi Arabia, UAE = United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt unilaterally announced a severance of diplomatic relations with Qatar, stopped traffic with Qatar, restricted logistics, and closed the economy. Strengthened and applied pressure.
On that basis, as a condition for cancellation, Qatar sought to reduce diplomatic relations with Turkey and Iran and close Al Jazeera, but Qatar opposed this and deepened relations with Turkey and Iran to support it. Two years ago, I withdrew from OPEC, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, led by Saudi Arabia.