Saudi Arabia and its allies this week put an end to the three-and-a-half year Qatar embargo that had not just been putting immense economic pressure on the small peninsula country despite its vast reserves of natural gas, but also to international perceptions of Gulf unity. The two countries had “fully set our differences aside”, Saudi’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhad told reporters covering the Gulf Co-operation Council summit on Tuesday; but in a region where memories are notoriously long and where tribal feuds routinely last for generations, it seems highly unlikely that the Qataris will either forgive or forget what they see as a stab in the back from their Gulf Arab neighbours.
Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt imposed the Qatar embargo in 2017, accusing it of supporting terrorism, Qatar denied the accusation and rejected demands for it close the Doha-based Al Jazeera broadcast network and to curb relations with Iran in return for the lifting of the blockade.