Saudi failure in the crisis in Qatar
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.
