Qatar and Bahrain announced late Wednesday that they had agreed to end a long‑running diplomatic feud and re‑establish relations. Bahrain was the last of the Gulf states to renew ties after joining Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt in imposing a diplomatic blockade on Qatar in 2017.
The reconciliation was reached in talks at the Gulf Cooperation Council headquarters in Saudi Arabia, according to Qatar’s foreign ministry. A statement from the ministry said the two neighbours “decided to restore diplomatic relations … according to the principles of the United Nations charter.” Both sides affirmed that the move stems from a mutual desire to develop bilateral relations and enhance Gulf unity and integration. Bahrain’s foreign ministry issued a similar statement, as reported by the country’s state news agency.
The 2017 blockade, imposed by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt, accused Qatar of supporting extremist organisations and being too close to Iran. The four countries banned Qatari planes and ships from using their airspace and territorial waters. A reconciliation accord was sealed in January 2021, and the three other states have already renewed relations, although the UAE and Qatar have yet to reopen their embassies. UAE and Qatari officials held their latest reconciliation meeting last week, with a Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson describing a “positive atmosphere.”
Relations between Qatar and Bahrain have been harder to restore because of thorny issues such as their maritime border, with both sides regularly accusing each other of illegally detaining the other’s fishermen. The Qatar‑Bahrain reconciliation comes amid a flurry of regional efforts to resolve disputes; arch‑rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed last month to resume relations, seven years after formally breaking ties.
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