As Saudi-Qatari gap widens, Iran calls for dialogue and restraint

Tabnak – In a move surprising to many observers around the world, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt have cut diplomatic ties and all land sea and air contacts with Qatar. Meanwhile, Iran has asked the Persian Gulf states to use dialogue to resolve their differences.

Riyadh took the lead on Monday to sever relations and other countries fell in line after an official source said the kingdom "urges all brotherly countries and companies to do the same."

A Saudi official cited by SPA said the country decided to "sever diplomatic and consular ties with Qatar, and to close all land, sea and aviation ports" in order to "protect its national security from the dangers of terrorism and extremism." The "decisive" measure, the Saudi statement said, was due to "gross violations committed by authorities in Qatar over the past years."

Later on the day, it was announced that Libya and Maldives had also joined the list of nations to cut diplomatic ties with Qatar. Libya raised charges against Doha as the "main source of supplying weapons to the Libyan branch of the Muslim Brotherhood and other armed Islamist groups since 2012 and poses a threat to the national security of the Arab world."

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi expressed Tehran’s concern over a decision by some Arab nations to sever diplomatic ties with Qatar, calling on the Arab states to exercise restraint.

In a statement released on Monday, Qassemi urged the four Arab states to resolve the tensions through "direct and transparent” talks instead of severing diplomatic ties.

"At a time when the (Middle East) region and the world are still suffering from broad consequences of terrorism and extremism and the continued occupation of Palestine by the Zionist regime, the escalation of tensions in relations between neighboring countries is not in the interest of any regional nations or governments,” he said.

Scott Bennett, a former US army psychological warfare officer and counter-terrorism analyst said to Tasnim News Agency that the reason Saudi Arabia has cut its ties with Qatar is because Doha has decided to shift its "political agenda” and is no longer interested in the kingdom’s "agenda of war” in the region.

At the same time, Abdel Bari Atwan, the editor-in-chief of Rai al-Youm newspaper, underlined that cutting diplomatic relations with Doha by four Arab states is a prelude for launching military strikes against the Qatari government. "The next step may be military intervention for regime change in Qatar as this is a war that has been planned several months ago," the senior Arab analyst wrote on his Twitter page on Monday.

On the other hand, a senior Iranian lawmaker said on Monday that the latest dispute among Arab countries in the region was rooted in US interference, adding that Tehran had always opposed meddling by foreign powers in regional affairs.

"The first outcome of US President Donald Trump's visit to the [Middle East] region was the emergence of divisions among regional countries," Chairman of the Iranian Parliament's Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy Alaeddin Boroujerdi said.

However, it seems that Israel is the only pleased party under the current circumstances. The Israeli media are already celebrating over the diplomatic rift between the Saudis and the Qataris with some outlets already calling on officials in Tel Aviv to make the best of what they are portraying of Qatar’s isolation and its lost ties with Hamas.

However, it seems that we should still wait and see what Qatar has actually planned to do against the latest developments. It could have a real significant effect on the future of alignments in the region.