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DUBAI—Qatar announced Thursday it is sending its ambassador back to Iran, defying a key demand from a Saudi-led bloc of Arab nations that it reduce its ties with Tehran.
Qatar’s move risks inflaming its diplomatic standoff with its Arab neighbors, which severed ties with Doha on June 5 to protest its close relations with Iran. They also accused it of fomenting extremism and instability in the Middle East, an allegation it denies.
Saudi Arabia had no immediate comment to the move. An official at Iran’s mission to the United Nations in New York didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Qatar recalled its ambassador to Iran in early 2016, after Saudi Arabia’s execution of a Saudi Shiite cleric triggered attacks on two Saudi diplomatic compounds in Iran.
In announcing that Qatar was returning its envoy to Iran, the country’s Foreign Ministry said the move represented its desire to “strengthen bilateral relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran in all fields.”
Qatar’s Arab neighbors have issued 13 demands for lifting the economic and diplomatic sanctions they have imposed on Doha.
Besides insisting that Qatar curb its relations with Iran, they also want the Doha-based Al Jazeera television network closed. Qatar has met none of the demands.
WSJ
