The Gulf severance crisis, which has lasted for more than three years, recently sent ice-breaking signals. Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait all expressed optimism about resolving the crisis on the 4th. U.S. sources revealed that the parties involved in the severance of diplomatic relations have reached a preliminary agreement and are expected to sign the final agreement within a few weeks.
Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal participated in a forum held in Rome, Italy, via video link on the 4th. He said at the meeting that thanks to continuous mediation by Kuwait and other countries, the settlement negotiations have made “significant progress”, the final agreement “seems to be within reach” and “I am optimistic that the parties involved in severing diplomatic relations are close to reaching an agreement”.
Qatar’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed said earlier in the same forum that Qatar was “very optimistic” about resolving the Gulf crisis and hoped that “things are going in the right direction”, but any final agreement must be based on mutual respect for each other’s sovereignty.
Muhammad also pointed out that the Gulf crisis cannot be expected to be resolved soon, because it has lasted for more than three years, and even if the crisis is resolved, “we still need time to recover from what happened during the dispute”.
In June 2017, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt announced that Qatar had severed diplomatic relations and imposed sanctions and blockades on Qatar on the grounds of “supporting terrorism” and “destructing regional security”. Subsequently, some countries announced that they had severed diplomatic relations with Qatar. This severance has not subsided so far.
The above four countries later made a 13-point request to Qatar as a condition for ending the severance of diplomatic relations crisis, including the withdrawal of Qatar’s diplomatic presence in Iran, the termination of all military cooperation with Iran, the closure of Al Jazeera and all its affiliated channels, the suspension of the agreement allowing Turkey to station troops in Qatar, and the severance of the Islamic State. Contact with extremist organizations such as Al-Qaeda. Qatar did not agree at that time.
Kuwait and other countries have mediated the crisis on many occasions. Kuwait’s Emir (Head of State) Nawaf welcomed the latest progress on the 4th. Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Ahmed said that the recent negotiations between the parties involved in the severance of diplomatic relations and the parties to the crisis were “productive”.
An anonymous U.S. source told Reuters that the severing party has reached a preliminary agreement and is expected to sign the final agreement within a few weeks. The United States hopes that Saudi Arabia and other countries will reopen their airspace to Qatari passenger planes as a first step in breaking the ice in the relationship. These claims have not been confirmed.
