Qatar | diplomatic crisis

Question 1: What happened last Monday? Early last week, several Arab states (including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrai...

Question 1: What happened last Monday?

• Early last week, several Arab states (including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, and Yemen) severed all Diplomatic and Economic ties with Qatar.

(States that severed relations with Qatar is labeled Pink, Qatar is labeled Green)

Question 2: How come this happened, Musaf?

• Well Anon, the Arab states listed accused Qatar of “supporting Islamist terror groups” including:
• The Muslim Brotherhood (Listed as a Terror Organization in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, Syria, Russia, and the United Arab Emirates)
• ISIS (Outlawed….everywhere on Planet Earth)
• Al-Qaeda (same thing as ISIS)
• While Qatar claims the sanctions were “unjustified and baseless,” they did have a controversial history of housing members of the Muslim Brotherhood

Question 3: What triggered it to happen?

• Last month, many media news outlets reported the Qatari Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani questioning the “extreme hostility” between the United States and Iran, along with claiming “tensions” between Qatar and the United States.
• Not only that, but many Gulf states questioned how Qatar started growing more “Pro-Iran” in terms of diplomatic relations (For context: Many Gulf states, especially Saudi Arabia, hate Iran and opposes them in everything). However, Qatar has very close ties with Iran, as both share the South Pars / North Dome Gas-Condensate field, the world’s largest natural gas field. This can create tension for the Gulf states for Qatar to lean more pro-Iran.

Question 4: How are countries reacting to the situation

• Saudi Arabia (being hostile towards Qatar) blocked all trade with Qatar. This can affect a lot, including the FIFA 2022 World Cup, as 80% of construction materials for the event went through Saudi borders. Saudi Arabia is also stationing military troops and equipment near the border as tensions rise.
• In Egypt, the Deputy ambassador to the U.N. Ihab Moustafa called for the U.N. Security Council to launch an investigation into the problem, claiming that Qatar violated U.N. resolutions by paying $1 Billion to terror groups in order to save 26 Qatari hostages.
• The Philippines suspended the deployment of new migrant workers on June 6th, but are allowing returning workers.
• Pakistan and Turkey are both providing support for Qatar, with Turkey deploying military troops to Qatar while Pakistan is providing diplomatic leverage.
• Iran is deploying aid to Qatar, including basic needs such as food to Qatari citizens as the sanctions might cripple food supplies. Plus, Iran is giving humanitarian support to Qatari citizens
• The Governments of India and Pakistan are keeping very close watch to the situation, as both have massive amounts of expats in the country (and in the region). They might have to evacuate citizens, tensions get worse.