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Monday, October 7, 2024

Qatar airway’s first landing in the Saudi Kingdom since Saudi-led barricade

Qatar Airway's plane, carrying the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, landed at Jeddah airport in Saudi Arabia in a first since the Saudi-led economic and political blockade.

News Desk |

Qatar Today, a Qatari online news portal, in a tweet on Wednesday reported;

“Qatar Airways is landing at Jeddah airport for the first time since the outbreak of the Gulf crisis and the siege of Qatar,”

Qatar, previously barred from attending the summits, invited by the King Salman of KSA

Last week, the Qatari Emir, Al Thani had received an invitation from the Saudi King, Salman Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, to attend two summits in Mecca starting May 30, after a two-year-long diplomatic halt. The information office of Qatar’s Foreign Ministry reported on Tuesday that the summits were being organized to discuss the repercussions of the drone strikes on Saudi oil installations and attack on two of Saudi oil tankers off the UAE coast earlier this month.

Qatar also plays a significant role of a strategic partner to the US in hosting its largest military air base Al Udeid.

The emergency summits in Mecca, from which Qatar had been previously barred from, is said to bring together leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and League of Arab States (LAS) to talk about the attacks.

Read more: Facial recognition; Qatar at the top of its game

Attacks on Saudi oil assets amid tensions between the US and Iran

The attacks carried out by suspected Iran-backed Houthi rebels took place amid tensions between the US and Iran over the deployment of  US military’s B-52 bombers and an aircraft carrier attack-group in the Gulf as a result of “unknown threats” from Iran as quoted by Mike Pompeo, the US Secretary of State.

In addition to the attack on Saudi oil assets, the US claimed to have been targeted in Baghdad when a rocket strike hit the heavily militarized Green Zone, miles away from the US embassy in Iraq. Iran has since, however, denied any involvement in the attacks targeting Saudi Arabia and the US, stating that Iran does not want war.

Qatar Airways is landing at Jeddah airport for the first time since the outbreak of the Gulf crisis and the siege of Qatar.

The statement by Iran’s Foreign Minister, Javad Zarif, came out as a result of the US President, Donald J. Trump’s tweet stating “the official end of Iran” in case of war. The genocidal ton of the tweet by Trump has escalated the on-going clash even further.

Iran is accused of using intimidation strategies to create chaotic situations in the Gulf and Arab regions has adopted a rather defensive position, demanding the lifting of US sanctions from its oil exports that has hindered its economic growth once again. The re-imposition of sanctions from the US took place as a result of the US withdrawal from the landmark 2015 Nuclear Deal in 2018. Since the withdrawal, Iran fears further economic instability as the US relief wavier to export oil to seven countries expired last month.

Read more: Qatar Airways named best Airline second year in a row

Qatar a key ally of the US and Iran

Qatar being a key US and Iran ally is expected to play the role of a moderate mediator in the conflict. Earlier this month, Qatar’s Foreign Minister, Sheikh Mohammad bin Abdulrahman Al Thani had visited Iran in an attempt to head off the increasing conflict intensity between the US and Qatar.

According to a source quoted by Al-Jazeera on May 16, Al Thani had met his Irani counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif in Tehran for arbitration. Qatar also plays a significant role of a strategic partner to the US in hosting its largest military air base Al Udeid.

It is expected that Qatar’s presence at the summit will bring a holistic and reasonable viewpoint on the table during the summits that will most certainly add value to the conflict resolution between the Saud-Iran-US agitation.