Qatar

Alex Emmons at The Intercept interviewed two former State Department officials and one intelligence official who confirmed to him that in early June, 2017, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates had been on the cusp of invading Qatar, but were stopped by Rex Tillerson. Emmons suggests that Tillerson lost his job over his intervention, […]

Qatar

How Saudi Arabia lost out to Iran and Turkey over failed Qatar Blockade

Mohammed Nuruzzaman

The 5th of June was the first anniversary of the Saudi-led blockade of Qatar. Imposed on the accusation that Qatar was sponsoring terrorism and destabilizing the Middle East region, the blockade came as a big shock, a bolt from the blue for the Qataris but they have managed to survive it well. Qatar’s capacity to […]

Qatar

Trump’s Debacle: Gulf Game of Thrones between Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Continues

Beverly Milton-Edwards

The crisis that erupted between a Saudi-led bloc of Arab states and Qatar led to the tiny Emirate facing an attack on them that was unprecedented. A full year later, the crisis is still unresolved. Read against the wider exigencies of US interests in the Gulf, the crisis has also highlighted profound weaknesses in Donald […]

Qatar

Qatar Seeks to Join NATO, Saying It Is “Stronger” Despite Year-Long Saudi-led Blockade,

David Harding

Doha (AFP) – On the first anniversary of a bitter Gulf diplomatic rift, Qatar’s foreign minister on Tuesday declared his country stronger than ever and said it was open to dialogue with its regional rivals. Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani also rebuked Qatar’s foes for “imaginary victories” against the small Gulf state, the target of a […]

Qatar

Saudi Arabia warns of new Gulf War targeting Qatar if it buys Russian Missile Defense

AFP

Paris (AFP) – Saudi Arabia has threatened military action against Qatar if it goes ahead and acquires Russia’s top of the range S-400 air defence missile system, Le Monde daily reported. Citing information it had obtained, Le Monde said Friday that Riyadh had written to French President Emmanuel Macron asking him to intervene to prevent […]

Qatar

Qatar rejects Saudi demand it send Troops to Syria

contributors

Middle East Monitor | – – Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani has said that Saudi Arabia’s ultimatum over Doha sending troops to Syria or losing US support is not even worth responding to. “This statement [by the Saudi Foreign Ministry] is not worthy of an answer. Qatar refutes the brainwashing of the […]

Qatar

Dubai-based Company Hired Iraq War Black Ops Exec to Smear Qatar in Film

contributors

By Jessica Purkiss and Abigail Fielding-Smith | (The Bureau of Investigative Journalism) | – – This story was published in partnership with The Daily Beast. Their version can be found here. The former CEO of Bell Pottinger USA was given over $500,000 to produce a six-part film linking Qatar with global terrorism A veteran of […]

Qatar

Geographical Warfare?: Saudi plans to make Qatar an Island

contributors

By Daniel Martin Varisco | (MENA Tidningen) | – – On June 5, 2016 Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain began a boycott of its Gulf neighbor Qatar, the richest country in the world, cutting off land and air travel over their space. No doubt the same countries that had launched a war against Yemen […]

Donald Trump

Tower of Jello: The Struggle of Russia and UAE over Tillerson’s helming of State Department

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The New Yorker reports that there was a further Steele memo, prepared by the same ex-MI6 intelligence officer who authored the notorious “golden shower” dossier, which reported Russian foreign ministry boasts that they had blocked Trump from appointing Mitt Romney as secretary of state. Romney had […]