The UAE and Qatar reopen embassies as Gulf Arab relations improve after a yearslong rift

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The United Arab Emirates and Qatar introduced the reopening in their embassies on Monday following a yearslong rift.

The two international locations issued statements announcing the Qatari Embassy in Abu Dhabi and a Qatari Consulate in Dubai, as neatly as an Emirati Embassy in Qatar’s capital, Doha, had resumed operations. The statements didn’t say if ambassadors had been in position or if the missions had been open to the general public.

The two international locations’ overseas ministers spoke by way of telephone to congratulate one some other at the reopening of the diplomatic missions, Qatar mentioned.

The UAE joined Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt in implementing a boycott and blockade of Qatar in 2017, largely over its engagement with and reinforce of Islamist teams around the Middle East that received energy straight away after the Arab Spring protests in 2011. The different Arab international locations within the Persian Gulf view such teams as terrorists — together with Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, which gained loose and honest elections however used to be ousted after a yr’s divisive rule.

Qatar, which like the opposite Arab international locations is a shut best friend of the United States, has many times denied supporting terror teams. It has additionally served as a key middleman in U.S. negotiations with the Palestinian militant workforce Hamas and the Afghan Taliban.

The unparalleled diplomatic disaster a few of the generally pleasant Gulf Arab international locations first of all sparked fears of armed struggle. But Qatar’s gasoline riches, and shut ties to Turkey and Iran, in large part insulated it from the commercial sanctions, and relations slowly thawed.

The boycott used to be formally lifted in January 2021. Late ultimate yr, Qatar welcomed visiting leaders from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE as it hosted football’s World Cup.