DUBAI – Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said this week that Qatar and the UAE have agreed to restore diplomatic ties.
The two countries issued statements saying Qatari Embassy in Abu Dhabi and a Qatari Consulate in Dubai, as well as a UAE Embassy in Qatar’s capital, Doha, had resumed operations.
The restoration of ties “represents the will of both countries’ leaders to strengthen joint Arab collaboration and achieve the aspirations of both peoples,” the Qatari Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The UAE’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, who is also the prime minister, spoke by phone to congratulate one another on the reopening of the diplomatic missions
Both officials hailed the restoration of ties as heralding a “new stage of cooperation and partnership” that confirms the deeply rooted relations that bind both countries, according to a statement on Emirates News Agency (WAM). They also discussed ways to boost cooperation.
The UAE joined Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt in imposing a boycott and blockade of Qatar in 2017. The boycott was officially lifted in January 2021. Saudi Arabia and Egypt were the first to reappoint ambassadors to Doha in 2021 after a Saudi-led deal to end the feud, while Bahrain has yet to reopen its embassy in Doha.
Late last year, Qatar welcomed visiting leaders from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE as it hosted the World Cup in Decemeber.
