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[AcademicSaucer]

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry announced that it was sending its ambassador back to Tehran after a 20-month hiatus that started in January 2016, when Qatar broke off relations after attacks on two Saudi diplomatic facilities in Iran.

The Qataris gave no explanation for the sudden move. But the timing suggested a purposeful snub of Saudi Arabia, which along with three other countries began a punitive boycott of Qatar in June, accusing it of supporting terrorism and having a too-cozy relationship with Iran. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut their air and sea routes to Qatar, and closed its only land border, with Saudi Arabia.

Mediation by the United States, Kuwait and Germany has failed to resolve the feud in the gulf.

The crisis lapsed into a stalemate after Qatar refused an initial list of 13 demands, which included cutting all ties with Tehran. But things took a turn for the worse this week after a visit by a minor Qatari royal, Sheikh Abdullah al-Thani, to the Saudi ruler, King Salman, at his holiday villa in Morocco.

Sheikh Abdullah, who lives in London and comes from a wing of the ruling family that was ousted in a 1972 coup, Although there was no official explanation for the visit, the Saudi news media played up Sheikh Abdullah’s visit as the beginning of a potential challenge to the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.

"The state of Qatar expressed its aspiration to strengthen bilateral relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran in all fields," The Qatari foreign ministry said.

Since the dispute flared in June, Iran has provided Qatar with sea shipments of fresh food and allowed a stream of Qatari airplanes to cross its airspace. On Thursday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Bahram Ghasemi, welcomed the return of Qatar’s ambassador to Tehran in a short statement.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/08/24/qatar-defies-saudi-arabia-restoring-diplomatic-ties-iran/

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/24/world/middleeast/qatar-iran-boycott-saudi-arabia.html?mcubz=0

 

[Golden_Pigeon]

The Saudi-blockade against Qatar will stay in history as one of the worst political move ever done.
If anything, it made clear the surprising deep support that Qatar enjoy in the region (Turkey and Iran, mainly) and underline the surprisingly weak support Saudi Arabia have, despite all the wealth they spread around.

 

[andythinkpad]

Saudi wants Qatar kill Al Jazeera. It's going to push Qatar further away from the Sunni pack.

 

[massoluk]

Thanks for giving us a new strategic partner, Saudi Arabia.

Love,

Iran