Failure Arabia Qatar Crisis

Saudi failure in the crisis in Qatar

• By  Summary Latinoamericano ,www.resumenlatinoamericano.org
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Summary Latinoamericano / AlManar / September 14, 2017 - 

The Saudi government has threatened to change the regime in Qatar if it is proposed , said Wednesday the digital version of the newspaper  Al Arab .

The threat emerged during the recent meeting of the  Arab League in Cairo, Egypt,  where the Saudi ambassador,  Ahmed al Qatan,  said, loving him,  Riad overthrow the Qatari government. The diplomat said that the kingdom can  "do whatever you want" .

Qatari Foreign Minister  Bin Saad Al Muraiyi downplayed that statement and said that  Riyadh  does not have capacity  to bring down the power to the government of his country.

Incidentally, he took the opportunity to denounce what he called  vicious media campaign against Qatar , conducted  by "rabid dogs supported by some regimes".

"Even the animals were forgiven, because you drove them savagely" , said  Al Muraiyi,  referring to the camels stranded on the border between  Qatar and Saudi Arabia after Riyadh  and its Arab allies imposed a maritime Doha air blockade, land and.

Al Muraiyi  declared that  Iran,  where he has just returned Qatari ambassador, is an honorable country, adding that relations between Tehran and Doha were consolidated from the crisis created by  Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE and Bahrain,  who broke all link with  Qatar.

That quartet Arab countries  demanded 13 demands to return to normal, including away from Iran, end alleged support for terrorist organizations, shutting down a Turkish military base and the closure of the chain Al Jazeera.

Doha,  however,  refused to meet such demands, because they violate the country's sovereignty.

For its part, the newspaper pan - Arab  Rai al Youm , citing diplomatic sources in the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf,  said that  Saudi Arabia  has been trying to E EUU received in Washington  by  Sheikh Abdullah bin Ali al - Thani , a member of the royal family Qatari who  Riad is enthroned in Qatar  after the alleged overthrow of the emir of that country.

Saudi Arabia  also aims, according to the newspaper, put pressure on  Kuwait  to invite  Sheikh Abdullah  to the next summit of  Cooperation Council of the Gulf.

But for  Mohammed Ayou b, professor of International Relations at the University of  Michigan , and member of the  Center for Global Policy in Washington ,  the Saudi policy  towards  Qatar  is  a big failure  for multiple reasons.

The Saudi regime believed that the blockade would put Qatar on his knees  on the assumption that  the small Qatar relied heavily Saudi neighbor  on the issue of food supply, trade and air traffic and thus,  Qatarwould  not resist the embargo economic and prohibition of using land, sea and airspace of  Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.  However, such assumptions are not met, says Ayoub.

Qatar  has rejected all demands Saudis, including the closure of  Al Jazeera , and "above all,  the reduction of relations with Iran,  a country with which  Qatar shares the largest gas field in the world". 

Iran not only now supplies food to Qatar,  but its land, sea and airspace is used by  Turkey and other countries to send food  and other products to the emirate. Qatar Airways  also uses the Iranian air corridors to reach many of their destinations.

Saudi Arabia  has failed  either  to  US support its anti-Qatari stance,  since  Washington  valued relations with the small emirate, which  houses the largest US base in the region , used for operations of the Pentagon in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Despite the anti-Qataris President Donald Trump statements , which showed a complete ignorance towards the strategic value of  Qatar for the US , the response of the State Department was very different , " says Ayoub , adding that any threat of force against  Qatar  would face an American opposition.

Based on these factors,  Qatar  can challenge  Saudi Arabia and the UAE  (Egypt and Bahrain Qatar barely count). 

Qatar on August 23  announced that it would seek  to "strengthen relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran in all fields"  and made  back its ambassador to Tehran  after a telephone conversation between the ministers of Qatari and Iranian Affairs. 

This was a remarkable victory for Iran and a defeat of Saudi control  over the states of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Another factor to consider is that  the crisis of Qatar  has contributed to  improving relations between Iran and Turkey,  since the latter has taken the side of the emirate, which is its only ally in the region. 

This has led, in turn, to a  deterioration of ties between Ankara and Riyadh. Turkey  has sent troops to a base in  Qatar  and has condemned  the anti-Qatari requirement to block such a base is dismantled.

Turkey's parliament  has authorized the deployment of  3,000 to 5,000 Turkish soldiers  in  Qatar  to help the emir to confront any  coup attempt supported by Saudi Arabia  or any external aggression.

Thus,  the Saudis failures, the  result mainly of the misjudgments of Prince  Muhammad bin Salman , have paved the way for  recent victories  of  Iran. 

"The Iranian skillful diplomacy and boundless patience have finally led Iran to make significant gains. 

Iran's approach to Qatar and Turkey,  two predominantly Sunni countries,  has also served to demolish the myth of a clash between Shiites and Sunnis .

"This instrument Saudi propaganda has now lost all credibility , " said Ayoub.