Why the Breach Between Saudis, Qataris Goes On and On: QuickTake - Bloomberg:
"When four Arab states led by Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic ties and transportation links with Qatar last June, there were widespread expectations that the rift would be quickly resolved, as had been the case with a similar dispute three years earlier. Instead, Qatar’s leaders have dug in, choosing isolation rather than kowtowing to the Saudis. Mediation efforts led by Kuwait have failed. When he was the U.S. secretary of state, Rex Tillerson tried to defuse tensions, but he was ousted March 13 by President Donald Trump.
1. What’s the rift about?
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt complain about Qatar’s friendliness with Iran and accuse it of supporting terrorism, a charge the emirate denies. The crisis was sparked last year when hackers published a story on Qatar’s news agency quoting Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, as criticizing mounting anti-Iran sentiment after a trip to the region by Trump. Qatari officials quickly deleted the comments, called the FBI to help investigate the hack, and appealed for calm as Saudi and U.A.E. newspapers, clerics and celebrities accused Qatar of trying to undermine efforts to isolate Iran.
2. So was it all a misunderstanding?
No. The conflict had been brewing for years. With its oil riches and custodianship of Islam’s holiest sites, Saudi Arabia has long seen itself as the natural leader of the Persian Gulf region, if not the entire Middle East. Its strongest competitor is Iran, with whom it has a testy relationship. In addition to being rivals for regional power, the two are on opposite sides of the Sunni-Shiite split within Islam. Since Qatar began to grow wealthy from natural gas exports two decades ago, it has asserted its independence from the Saudis and sought cordial ties with Iran, with whom it shares a gigantic offshore gas field.
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