Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have announced that they are restoring diplomatic ties and reopening their embassies immediately, more than two years after Arab states ended a boycott of Doha that had shattered the Western-allied Gulf Arab bloc.

Qatar’s foreign ministry said on Monday that the neighbouring Gulf states have agreed to resume work at their embassies starting June 19.

The restoration of ties comes amid a broader regional push for reconciliation with Iran and Saudi Arabia, with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud visiting Tehran on Saturday and Tehran opening its embassy in Riyadh in recent weeks.

Several Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia and Egypt, have moved to end a decade-long isolation of Syria, which had been boycotted over its crackdown on protests in 2011 – violence that led to a protracted civil war. Qatar, however, remains opposed to that move.

In mid-2017, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt severed all ties with Qatar over accusations it supported terrorism and was cosying up to Iran, accusations Doha denied.

Riyadh and Cairo were the first to reappoint ambassadors to Doha in 2021 after a Saudi-led deal to end the dispute, while Bahrain announced in April that it would restore diplomatic ties.

All nations restored trade and travel links with Qatar in early 2021, when the UAE had suggested resuming diplomatic ties would take time.

Relations between the UAE and Qatar warmed last year and leaders of both countries met face-to-face.

Source: TRTworld.com