Qatar

Donald Trump holds a sword and sways with traditional dancers during a welcome ceremony at Murabba Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, May 20, 2017. (AP/Evan Vucci)
There will be no weapons deals to Saudi Arabia or other countries attempting to blockade Qatar as long as the diplomatic spat continues, a US Senator has vowed.
The ongoing diplomatic crisis in the Gulf region undermines the fight against the Islamic State group, said Bob Corker, chairman of the influential Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

Bob Corker, head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said disputes between Gulf states ‘hurt efforts’ against IS and Iran.

(MEE) — The Republican head of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee has said he will block arms sales to the Gulf states until the on-going diplomatic crisis with Qatar is resolved.

(ANTIWAR.COM) — Late last week, Qatar received a list of 13 demands from Saudi Arabia and the other Arab nations involved in blockading them, and has been warned by the Saudi kingdom that they have just 10 days to unconditionally accept all of them, or face unspecified further action.

Exclusive: President Trump’s swaggering response to Saudi threats against Qatar could be viewed as a “green light” for a Saudi invasion — and the next step toward a regional war with Iran, reports Joe Lauria. By Joe Lauria The split…Read more →

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has had a phone conversation with Qatari leader Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, during which the Iranian President expressed his support for Qatar against the Saudi led boycott of the small but wealthy Gulf state.
This is the most prominent Iranian demonstration of support of Qatar that has been made public since Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt spearheaded a total diplomatic and economic cutting off of Qatar.
The call came at a symbolic period as Muslims of all sects celebrated Eid, the fest at the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

Yesterday The Duran’s Alexander Mercouris noted that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s ultimatum to Qatar threatens a wider regional war pitting key allies of the US against each other.

In July 1914 warmongers in the Habsburg government sent an insanely worded ultimatum to Serbia.  Emperor Franz Josef I – 84 and in poor health – did nothing to restrain them, whilst they were actually egged on by the Habsburg empire’s powerful but wilful ally, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany.
The result was a geopolitical catastrophe which brought about the end of the Habsburg empire.

With the US staunchly backing Turkey’s Kurdish adversaries in Syria and with new alignments emerging out of the Qatar crisis, is the map of Middle Eastern alliances about to be redrawn?
The Duran’s Adam Garrie sits down with Nedka Babliku of Division Bell Media to discuss who is doing what and for whom in the Middle East.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has issued a strong rebuke of the Saudi authored ultimatum which Riyadh has attempted to force on Qatar as a prerequisite for normalising relations. Doha has rejected the ultimatum while Saudi’s ally the UAE has suggested that a break in relations between Saudi, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt on the one hand and Qatar on the other could last for the foreseeable future.
READ MORE: COLD WAR IN THE DESERT: How the Qatar crisis is becoming a stalemate

The cold war in the desert may become a new medium term reality for the Gulf and wider Middle East as both sides become more entrenched in their positions.
Qatar has refused a Saudi authored ultimatum whose contents were leaked to the press. A Qatari official has called the ultimatum “unrealistic” and “unreasonable” and it is not difficult to see why as capitulation to Saudi Arabia’s demands would essentially reduce Qatar to the status of a Saudi client state.