Two days after His Highness H.H. the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani received a written message from the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia, in which he extended an invitation to H.H. the Amir to attend the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) emergency summit in Makkah Al Mukarramah, on May 30, Al Jazeera has reported, that Qatar's Prime Minister Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani will attend the summit, not The Amir. The summit is being held to discuss issues of regional security amid the tensions that have been arising between the United States and its Gulf region allies and Iran.
This will be one of the first high-level meetings to take place with Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt since the blockade was imposed almost two years ago on 5 June 2017.
There have been increasing tensions between Tehran and Washington after Saudi Arabia's oil installations and four vessels which included two oil tankers were attacked by drones a few weeks ago, just off the UAE coast.
Tensions have soared in the Gulf region following the drone attacks on oil installations in the kingdom and attacks on four vessels, including two Saudi oil tankers, off the coast of the UAE.
Saudi Arabia believes Iran ordered the attacks, even though Yemen's Houthi group claimed it was behind them. Iran has vehemently denied having any role in the attacks saying it was "ridiculous' to even assume they masterminded such attacks. A senior Iranian military commander was even quoted as saying that Iran was not looking for war.
The United States has deployed 1,500 more troops, B-52 bombers and an aircraft carrier in the Gulf because of threats it perceives from Iran.
Iran has said it is not scared of the United States whose President Donald Trump has withdrawn from a multinational nuclear pact signed in 2015 with Iran and has also reimposed sanctions which mainly target the country's oil exports.
What this meeting means for Qatar and the blockading countries is yet to be seen. Some analysts think that these countries may actually be backing down from the accusations that made against Doha almost two years ago. All we can do is wait and watch and see where this meeting leads us all.
What do you think will happen? Will the meeting ease tensions between Qatar and the blockading countries? Do let us know what you think in our Comments section. Like and share the article - it keeps us going!
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