Saudi Arabia called for a united front against Iran on Tuesday during a Gulf summit where Riyadh and three of its allies agreed to restore diplomatic ties with Qatar, ending the three and half year blockade.
In 2017, the Saudis, Egypt, the UAE, and Bahrain cut ties with Qatar for a number of reasons, one of them being Doha’s alleged close ties with Iran.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said Gulf leaders should unify “to advance our region, and face the challenges that surround us — especially the challenges represented by Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missiles programs.”
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo released a statement on the restoration of ties between Qatar and its neighbors. “Restoring full diplomatic relations is imperative for all parties in the region to unite against common threats,” he said in an apparent reference to Iran.
The effort to end the diplomatic row was pushed by the US. Through this effort and brokering Arab normalization deals with Israel, the Trump administration has been working to ensure the cooperation of its allies in the region to counter Iran.
Pompous calls it a “breakthrough to restore Gulf and Arab unity” but Reuters reports “While the communique contained no detailed confirmation of a deal, the apparent breakthrough signalled hope for mending a rift between major U.S. allies two weeks before President-elect Joe Biden takes office and at a time of tensions with Iran.” . .Hurrah for the apparent breakthrough. . . .Meanwhile, Iran and Qatar jointly control the world’s largest natural gas field. Qatar has 13% of the world’s total proven gas reserves. Qatar is producing 650 million cubic meters of gas per day from its section of the field, and Iran is producing 430 million cubic meters of gas per day from the field.