Arab leaders signed a declaration in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to mark a new page in relations following the kingdom’s decision to end a three-and-a-half-year embargo on Qatar, easing a rift that deeply divided regional US security allies and frayed social ties across the interconnected Arabian Peninsula.
The Saudi decision to open its airspace and borders to Qatar was the first major step towards ending the diplomatic crisis that began in 2017, just as the Trump administration was raising pressure on Iran. The Saudi move was announced on Monday night. On Tuesday, Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim al Thani attended the Gulf Cooperation Council’s summit for the first time since 2017.
He was received by Saudi Arabia’s Prince Mohammed with a hug in the desert city of Al-Ula.
South Korea will send a delegation to Iran to negotiate the release of a seized oil tanker and its crew, Seoul said on Tuesday, as an anti-piracy unit arrived in waters near the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards had seized the South Korean-flagged Hankuk Chemi - which it said was carrying 7,200 tonnes of “oil chemical products” - for infringing maritime environmental laws.