Qatar sends envoy back to Iran after 20-month hiatus

By Ahmed Yussef

DOHA (AA) - Qatar on Wednesday announced its decision to send its ambassador back to Iran some 20 months after recalling him due to a diplomatic row between Tehran and Riyadh.

In a statement published on its official website, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said the ambassador would “return to [Iran to] carry out his diplomatic responsibilities”.

“The State of Qatar has expressed its hope of strengthening bilateral relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran in all fields,” read the statement.

In January of last year, Doha recalled its ambassador to Tehran to protest the ransacking of two Saudi diplomatic missions -- in the Iranian cities of Tehran and Mashhad -- by Iranian protestors.

The protesters’ attacks on the diplomatic missions had been prompted by Riyadh’s decision to execute a prominent Shia cleric, Nimr Baqir al-Nimr, for alleged terrorism-related offenses.

The decision by Qatar -- a traditional ally of Saudi Arabia -- to send its envoy back to Tehran comes amid a two-and-a-half-month political crisis pitting Doha against a four-nation Arab bloc led by Saudi Arabia.

In early June, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain collectively cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting, inciting and funding terrorism in the region.

The four states also imposed a wide-ranging blockade on Qatar and demanded that Doha meet a list of demands -- including one for the closure of pan-Arab broadcaster Al Jazeera -- or face additional sanctions.

Doha has thus far refused to comply with the demands, describing the attempts to isolate it as a violation of both international law and its national sovereignty.

A key U.S. ally in the Gulf region and home to one of the largest U.S. military bases in the Middle East, Qatar vociferously denies allegations that it supports terrorism.