A senior Trump administration official recently said that a breakthrough in the three-year-old dispute between Qatar and Saudi Arabia and three other Arab states has now been brokered by the Trump administration and that a peace agreement that could end the rift between the parties will be signed in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, Jan. 5.
It is the latest in a series of Middle East peace deals reached by the Trump administration, Reuters reported. White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, who was assigned by President Trump to resolve the dispute, helped negotiate and reach the agreement. Kushner was reportedly on the phone until early Monday morning (Jan. 4) to facilitate the peace deal.
Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Ahmad al-Sabah said Saudi Arabia will reopen its airspace, land and sea borders to Qatar starting Jan. 4 as part of the deal.
Qatar’s ruler, Emir al-Thani, will attend the meeting, the Qatari royal family said. U.S. officials said the Saudi crown prince and the Qatari emir will sign the deal.
Since 2017, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt have imposed a diplomatic, trade and travel embargo on Qatar, accusing it of supporting terrorism. Qatar, for its part, denies the claim. After being isolated by multiple Gulf states, Qatar has increased its cooperation with Turkey, Iran and other countries.
While Saudi Arabia has made clear its intention to lift the embargo, the other three countries have not yet done so. In response, Trump administration officials said, “That’s what we expect, that they will join in lifting the blockade.”
All of the Gulf countries involved in this agreement are allies of the United States. Under the good offices of the Trump administration, Middle Eastern countries have signed a series of peace agreements, some of which involve Israel and Arab countries, with the aim of creating a united front against Iran.
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