The 2017 Gulf Blockade is over, with Qatar Airways a huge beneficiary of this diplomatic breakthrough.
Gulf Blockade Over, A Win For Qatar Airways
Raising alarm over an increasingly cozy relationship between Qatar and Iran, several Gulf nations enacted a blockade against Qatar in 2017. Not only did that freeze diplomatic relations, but it halted cross-border traffic, adversely impacting Qatari flag carrier Qatar Airways. The blockade restricted not only landing rights, but the use of airspace, forcing Qatar Airways flights to take far more circuitous routings than had historically been necessary even to destinations outside the blockade.
Earlier this week, Saudi Arabia announced that it was ending its long-running blockade against Qatar. Hours later, it became other nations would join in as well. In a signing ceremony in Al-Ula, Saudi Arbaia, leaders from nations including Bahrain, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates convened to make the new official.
#CrownPrince receives Emir of the State of #Qatar upon his arrival to participate in the #GCCSummit41 in #AlUla pic.twitter.com/nUsIu0pr5m
— Foreign Ministry 🇸🇦 (@KSAmofaEN) January 5, 2021
Under the terms of the so-called Al-Ula Agreement, the airspace, land and sea border will re-open. Although ostensibly immediate in effect, it is unclear when Qatar Airways might resume service to Dubai, Jeddah, and other popular Gulf destinations.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman offered scant details, but noted:
“We consider with great thanks and appreciation the efforts to heal the rift.
“We also commend, in this regard, the friendly endeavors of the United States of America, and all the parties that have contributed.”
While Kuwait was the main driver of the peace initiative, the outgoing White House also played a role. At the same time, it was the same White House which tacitly approved the blockade in the first place in order to exert additional pressure against Iran.
CONCLUSION
Qatar Airways stands to emerge as a big winner from the lifting of the Gulf Blockade. Expect shorter flights times and a resumption of service to Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates in the weeks ahead.
What played a role is the Saudis and Emiratis concerns that an incoming Biden Administration was going to put a cramp on their game and game field in playing against Iran. When the polls started to look bad for Trump last year, the Saudis and Emiratis got into gear on how to try to move Qatar before Biden and the rest of the Democrats becomes a reality for them. After it became clear that Trump lost the election — and even more clear when all the “I still have a pathway to victory” insanity in December 2020 and even January 2021, the Saudis and Emiratis knew that they had to move fast on getting their plotted agreement on Qatar in place and stamped by the US before Biden-Harris got a real say on it.
There is a very real risk that Trump and his regional allies in the Arabian peninsula — Israel included — will want to do something against — or try to provoke something from — Iran in the days or weeks ahead before the Biden-Harris people get much of a say. And by that point it may already be too late and you should expect NOTAMs disrupting flying in and around the Gulf even with this “deal”.
This anti-Qatari blockade only came to life with a Trump Admin not opposed to it, and it was destined to die with the end to a Trump/Republican administration. So very predictable from even before it’s beginning.
The kleptocratic Trump crime family had acted as a green light for pretty much anything and everything the kleptocratic Saudis and Emirati rulers wanted, and the Saudis and Emiratis generally have a very strong preference for Republicans — even explicitly anti-Muslim Republicans — over Democrats.
@GUWonder – it sounds like you’ve been cribbing notes from the daily kos lol there is zero evidence that anybody either in the outgoing trump administration or our allies in the middle east are looking to start a conflagration. I am also curious why you seem to think that it wouldn’t be Iran that would start one knowing that all the Foggy Bottom dwellers and their apologists across the Left would still find a way to blame the Right or the autocracies in the ME for the fracas. The reality is that Obama did more damage to the ME than Trump did (Syrian red lines anyone? Flooding Iran with money to arm her proxies anyone? Etc etc)
I’ve been cribbing notes from various GCC royal family members and their hanger-ons in Washington who dislike Democrats and have not been shy in telling me for years that the Republicans are so much better for them than Democrats.
The regional damage which was observed during the Obama Administration was a direct function of the damage done by earlier Administrations. The regional damage done by the Trump Administration will be observed during the Biden Administration, but it’s already observed in part with Iran’s nuclear material supply having advanced so much faster during Trump’s 4 years than Obama’s last 4 years. And now we have the GCC getting on the nuclear weapons bandwagon too, without relying upon the Pakistani stockpile.
Mr. Ivana Trump, who is not very smart, deserves credit for this.
This article is well written because it doesn’t go overboard with commentary which is what news organizations often do now.
If Live and Let’s Fly did that, which it doesn’t, then it would report such as “United, which breaks guitars, is starting new service to Peoria, but makes baseless claims about flying the friendly skies”
I kind of enjoyed the extra time on my Qsuites flight from JFK to Doha and Bangkok in February.
America has no allies in the Middle East. America has self-dealers in the Middle East that find us to be useful tools at times and thus try to keep us close at hand and make us believe they are allies.
Kleptocrats are not good allies. They are just users, just like Trump who went from being a Bill Clinton-loving Democrat to a Hillary Clinton-hating, unhinged Republican.
Yep!