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In an effort to end the rift in the Gulf region, Kushner will meet the Emir of Qatar and the Saudi crown prince, according to US media reports.
According to US media reports, White House senior adviser Jared Kushner and his team will travel to Saudi Arabia and Qatar this week for talks aimed at resolving the dispute between neighboring Gulf countries.
A senior administration official of President Donald Trump told Reuters news agency Sunday that Kushner will meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) in the Saudi city of Neom, and the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al. Thani in this country in the coming days.
Kushner is eager to persuade Saudi and Qatari leaders to reconcile and reach agreement on a number of issues, Axios reported, citing US officials.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic relations and imposed a land, sea and air blockade on Qatar in 2017, accusing Doha of “supporting terrorism” and issuing a list of 13 requests.
Qatar has rejected the accusations and demands and accused the bloc countries of attacking its sovereignty.
US National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien earlier this month said resolving the Gulf crisis was a priority for the administration and that there was a chance it could happen before Trump leaves. assignment in January.
A senior Saudi official last month reported that there had been some progress in efforts to resolve the dispute that lasted more than three years, saying Riyadh was “committed to a solution.”
“We continue to be willing to engage with our brothers in Qatar and hope they are equally committed to that commitment,” said Prince Faisal bin Farhan.
“But we have to address the quartet’s legitimate security issues and I think there is a path to that” with a solution “in the relatively near future,” he said.
Earlier this month, Qatar’s foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said there were no winners in the Gulf crisis and that Doha hoped it would end “at any moment.”
White House Senior Advisor Jared Kushner (left) meets Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (right) during his visit to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia [File: Saudi Press Agency via Reuters]
US envoys for the Middle East Avi Berkowitz and Brian Hook will join Kushner, as well as Adam Boehler, chief executive of the US International Development Finance Corporation, Reuters and Axios reported.
Kushner and his team have helped negotiate normalization agreements between Israel and Bahrain, UAE and Sudan since August. Officials said they would like to advance further such deals before US President-elect Joe Biden takes office on January 20, US media reported.
US officials believe luring Saudi Arabia into a deal with Israel would push other Arab nations to follow suit. But the Saudis don’t seem to be on the verge of reaching such a major deal, and in recent weeks officials have focused on other countries, with concern over Iran’s regional influence as a unifying factor.
Kushner’s trip comes after the murder of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in Tehran by unidentified attackers on Friday. The Western and Israeli governments believe that Fakhrizadeh was the architect of a secret Iranian nuclear weapons program.
Days before the murder, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled to Saudi Arabia and met with MBS, an Israeli official said, in what was the first publicly confirmed visit by an Israeli leader. The Israeli media said they were joined by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
The historic meeting underlined how the opposition in Tehran is determining a strategic realignment of the countries of the Middle East.
MBS and Netanyahu fear Biden will adopt policies on Iran similar to those adopted during the US presidency of Barack Obama, who strained Washington’s ties with its traditional allies in the Middle East.
Biden said he will rejoin the international nuclear deal with Iran that Trump left in 2018 – and will work with allies to tighten the terms – if Tehran resumes strict compliance first.
The official said Kushner met with Kuwaiti foreign minister Sheikh Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah at the White House last week. Kuwait is seen as pivotal in any attempt to resolve a three-year rift between Qatar and blocking countries.
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