Qatar & Iran: Convergence or Divergence? “Iranian – Qatari relations: Future Prospects (4)”

Cairo – In the wake of the diplomatic crisis where several Arab nations severed ties with the gulf statelet of Qatar, Iran has openly supported Qatar and asked Arab nations to settle disputes through dialogue. After Saudi Arabia and allies blocked Qatar economically, Iran sent food supplies, amounting to 600 (as of 11/06) tons of fresh produce, to Qatar.

Iran and Qatar have always pursued pragmatic policies toward each other, both carefully avoiding possible ideological, diplomatic, or territorial disputes. Given their geographic proximity, shared gas field, and the turbulent context of the regional politics, this “no-dispute” approach has not always been easy and at times has been seriously tested, as it was in the early days of the Iran-Iraq War at the start of the 1980s and the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011–2012. In the post-nuclear deal era, rising Saudi-Iranian tensions have also found their way into the relationship between Qatar and Iran. Throughout these and other trials and tribulations, the two sides have managed to avoid serious tensions and to instead find common grounds.

The crisis was sparked by the incendiary statements posted online by the Qatar News Agency website (QNA) and other government media platforms, in which Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, expressed support for Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah and Israel. The emir was quoted as saying: “Iran represents a regional and Islamic power that cannot be ignored and it is unwise to face up against it. It is a big power in the stabilization of the region.”

Between 5 and 6 June 2017, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Yemen, Egypt, the Maldives, and Bahrain all separately announced that they were cutting diplomatic ties with Qatar.

On 27 May 2017, the newly-reelected Iranian President Hassan Rouhani held a phone call with Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.  Rouhani told Qatar’s emir, “The countries of the region need more cooperation and consultations to resolve the crisis in the region and we are ready to cooperate in this field.”

Tehran may also look to strategically benefit from the Gulf fall-out. Iran began exporting food to Qatar days later as the unprecedented Gulf crisis left the isolated emirate without the land transport links it usually relies on to import food.

Mohammad Mehdi Bonchari, director of ports in Iran’s Boushehr province, said Tehran was shipping 1,100 tonnes of food each day to Qatar, Fars news agency reported on Thursday.

On the same day Fars quoted the head of Iran’s cattle exporting association as saying 66 tonnes of beef had been exported to Qatar, with another 90 tonnes of beef expected to follow.

Ending the gulf crisis is contingent on fulfilling a list of Saudi demands to Qatar, as follows cutting off all links with Iran and expelling resident members of Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, shutting down al-Jazeera, to stop “interfering” in foreign countries’ affairs and last but not least, to cease any funding or support for terrorist organizations.

However, recent months have seen Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani go against the region’s interests by warming up to Tehran — in a conversation with Rouhani last week, Al-Thani said he wanted bilateral liaisons to be stronger than ever.

Iran, a nation that “fueled the fires of sectarian conflict and terror,” and called on nations to fight terrorism —that many believe it helped spark the current Gulf crisis.

It may be too early to jump to conclusions on the future of Iran-Qatar relationship which is characterized by being interest-based, and whether that dubious relationship will survive the crisis or/and linger.

Egyptian Journalist and Member of Parliament, Dr. Abdel Rehim Ali is an expert on Islamist Movements and political Islam. This essay is adapted from his upcoming book “Qatar: The Destabilizer of the Middle East: The Full Story of Grand Conspiracy,” which will be published later this month.