Qatar’s Ties to Iran Hamper Regional Consensus on Response to Iranian Aggression

(New York, N.Y.) – Iran has responded to the Trump Administration’s efforts to renegotiate a stronger nuclear agreement by dramatically ramping up its malign activities, imperiling regional stability, nuclear non-proliferation, freedom of navigation, and the global energy supply.

Tomorrow’s Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit provides an opportunity to develop a consensus on the multiple threats Iran poses to the region. However, the ability of the GCC (Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Oman) to develop a unified strategy on Iran is hampered by Qatar’s relationship with the Islamic Republic.

United Against Nuclear Iran’s (UANI) new resource, Qatar: An Impediment to Unity on Iran, chronicles Qatar’s deepening relationship with Iran, despite hosting the largest U.S. base in the region, Al-Udeid Air Base, which is key to U.S. air operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria and home to 10,000 U.S. troops.

In addition, Qatar has run afoul of GCC – and American – security interests by pursuing ties with a range of extremist actors including Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, and the Taliban, as well as supporting and harboring international terrorist organizations and individuals.

To read the UANI resource, Qatar: An Impediment to Unity on Iran, please click here.