The rift between the Gulf States led by Saudi Arabia against Qatar is about to end. U.S. and Kuwaiti officials said on Jan. 4, that Saudi Arabia will reopen its borders and airspace with Qatar. The announcement came on the eve of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) annual summit in the Saudi Arabian city of Al-Ula on Jan. 5; the six-nation summit includes Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain. Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani will attend the summit for the first time since the dispute began in 2017. The agreement was based on a proposal by Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, reflecting its repeated efforts to mediate in the crisis.
While the U.S. has been pushing for a reconciliation, the motivation has been to further isolate Iran, since Qatar has joint oil deals with Tehran, and had not joined the Saudi attacks on it. The other issue in the conflict was that Qatar had been supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, with which the Saudis, U.A.E., Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman had broken.
White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, who helped broker the reconciliation, flew to Saudi Arabia on Jan. 4 to attend the signing, and will attend the Gulf Cooperation Council meeting.
