Mirage or Oasis? Tensions Ease between Bitter Gulf Rivals

Posted: August 24th, 2017

By Michael Rubin

Michael Rubin is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) in Washington. Rubin is a former Pentagon official whose major research areas are the Middle East, Turkey, Iran, and diplomacy. Rubin instructs senior military officers deploying to the Middle East and Afghanistan on regional politics and teaches classes regarding Iran, terrorism, and Arab politics on board deploying U.S. aircraft carriers. Rubin has lived in post-revolutionary Iran, Yemen, both pre- and post-war Iraq; he spent time with the Taliban before 9/11. His newest book, "Dancing with the Devil: The Perils of Engaging Rogue Regimes," examines a half-century of U.S. diplomacy with rogue regimes and terrorist groups.

Qatar announced on Thursday it is restoring full diplomatic ties with Iran. “The state of Qatar expressed its aspirations to strengthen bilateral relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran in all fields,” the Qatari Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that Qatar’s ambassador will return to Iran after a year of vacancy in the post.

This comes at a time when relations between Qatar and its Arab neighbors are particularly tense. In June, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt jointly decided to sever ties and cut off land, sea, and air routes with Qatar, unless Qatar meets a set of demands – including withdrawing support for Iran and shutting down Qatari media group Al Jazeera.

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