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Saudi Arabia and Qatar will reopen their respective embassies “in the next few days,” after three and a half years of severance of diplomatic relations between the two Gulf countries, the Saudi Foreign Minister announced on Saturday.
In June 2017, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt had broken their relations with Doha, accusing it of supporting extremist Islamist groups, being too close to the Iranian rival and sowing confusion in the region through its media.
Qatar always denied those accusations.
But Riyadh and the other Arab countries that boycotted Doha finally sealed reconciliation with the emirate earlier this month at a summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
“Diplomatic relations will be fully restored and we hope to be able to open embassies in the next few days,” said Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan.
The deadline is “linked only to the necessary logistical measures” for the reopens, he added at a press conference in Riyadh, broadcast by the state-run Al Ekhbariya television.
This announcement follows the reopening of the borders and the resumption of flights between the two countries this week.
Last week, the UAE announced that trade between Qatar and the four boycotting countries should resume in “the next 7 days.”
In recent weeks, the United States has mobilized to reconcile the Gulf countries, within the framework of the outgoing US President Donald Trump’s strategy to isolate Iran and intensify his campaign of “maximum pressure” on the Islamic Republic.
bur-aem / awa / mab / tjc