Qatari PM to attend Gulf summit in Saudi Arabia amid blockade

Doha, Qatar – Qatar’s Prime Minister Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani will attend a Gulf summit in Mecca this weekend, one of the first high-level meetings with blockading nations since the embargo was imposed nearly two years ago.

A high-level source exclusively told Al Jazeera on Wednesday the face-to-face between Sheikh Abdullah and top officials from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and other countries will take place at the meeting starting on Thursday.

The summit is expected to focus on regional security issues amid soaring tension between Iran and the United States and its Gulf allies.

Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani received an invitation from Saudi King Salman to attend the emergency Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit earlier this week.

Sources familiar with the situation say Sheikh Tamim is unlikely to attend the three-day meeting.  

In June 2017, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) cut off ties with Qatar and imposed a land, sea, and air blockade on the Gulf state. 

The quartet accuses Doha of supporting “terrorism” and proscribed opposition political movements, such as the Muslim Brotherhood.

Qatar has repeatedly rejected the accusations as baseless.

The invitation to Qatar’s leaders suggests the Saudi-led blockading countries may be backing down from their accusations against Doha, an analyst said.

Gulf tensions

Tensions between Washington and Tehran soared recently over America deploying an aircraft carrier, B-52 bombers, and 1,500 more troops to the Gulf over a still-unexplained threat it perceives from Tehran.

Speaking from the UAE on Wednesday, US National Security Adviser John Bolton said attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf this month were the work of “naval mines almost certainly from Iran”. He provided no evidence.

Iran responded by calling the accusation “ridiculous”.

A war of words between the United States and Iran has escalated since US President Donald Trump withdrew from a 2015 multinational nuclear pact with Iran and reimposed sanctions, notably targeting Tehran’s key oil exports.

Iran says it will not be cowed by what it has called “psychological warfare”.