Saudi Arabia And Its Allies Break With Qatar: What Are The Consequences?

Aerial view of Doha in Qatar.

It is a real diplomatic earthquake in the Middle East. Egypt and four Gulf States - Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Yemen - announced on June 5 that their diplomatic relations with Qatar had broken off.

Doha is accused by its neighbors of supporting terrorism. The Qatari authorities rule angrily and denounce an unfounded decision. They nevertheless reassure their population, there will be no impact on the daily life of the Qatarians.

Qatar is a peninsula in the Gulf, it shares a single land border with Saudi Arabia, and this border is now closed. The decision of its neighbors, headed by Riyadh, is without appeal: the rupture is not only diplomatic, it is total. Qatari diplomats have 48 hours to pack their bags. They are ordered to leave Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Yemen and of course the Saudi kingdom. The same applies to Qatari nationals who are residents or tourists in the countries of the region. They have two weeks to go home.

Problem ... How to reach their little monarchy? Almost no airline, or maritime, now serves Qatar; Even Qatar Airways suspended its connections with Saudi Arabia. Doha, which has risen in recent years as a pole of attractiveness, finds itself alone. And this is not the first time that Qatar is sidelined, isolated by its neighbors. By 2014, Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, and Manama had recalled their ambassador to Qatar to protest Doha's support for the Muslim Brotherhood.

Immediate consequences

Immediate consequences of this crisis; The Doha stock market fell by 8% from its opening reflecting investor concerns related to the actions taken by these Arab countries. They decided to interrupt their air, land and sea connections by Tuesday with Qatar. These countries will also forbid their airspace to Qatar Airways, forcing the latter company to modify its routes, lengthening the flights and causing a decline in activity for the Qatari company. For example, Qatar Airways operates twelve flights a day between Doha and Dubai.
As a further measure, Saudi Arabia has decided to close its inland links with Qatar. Theoretical study; The only route through land that connects the small emirate with other countries in the region is the border with Saudi Arabia. Every day hundreds of trucks cross it with goods and especially food products. It should be noted that closure of airspace and land borders will complicate the timing of deliveries of materials for the work that this country has undertaken to host the World Cup in 2022.

The Qatarians expected it a bit

The Qatari press almost expected this announcement, said our correspondent in Doha, Sabrina Bennoui. For several weeks, editorialists have denounced a media campaign of the Gulf neighbors against Qatar. For them, diplomatic sanctions are a logical consequence. Since this morning, the great Qatari chain Al Jazeera follows this case closely.

Remarkably, it has taken over from an Iranian representative close to President Hassan Rohani. He felt that this decision was not a good solution to resolve the crisis. Qatar's diplomatic ties with Iran are precisely one of the reasons that led to the escalation of tensions.

On Twitter, this topic has been tweeted nearly 100,000 times. Qatar said there would be no impact on citizens, but Saudi Arabia already plans to withdraw all Qatari troops from the coalition in Yemen.