The 13 Conditions of Four Arab Countries for Resuming Relations with Qatar

Two and a half weeks after Saudi Arabia and several Arab and Islamic countries cut ties with Qatar over allegations of supporting terrorism and closeness to Iran, a list of 13 conditions has been communicated to Qatar by four Arab countries including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE, and Bahrain for the renewal of relations. Qatar has only 10 days to announce its readiness to implement these conditions to end the sanctions and blockade imposed by other countries. According to reports, the Kuwaiti government informed the Qatari government of the specified conditions on Friday morning, July 2. The Associated Press, which has learned of this list, states that the complete severance of relations between Qatar and the Islamic Republic of Iran, cutting ties with the Lebanese Hezbollah group, halting support for various Islamist groups in the region, ending the operations of Al Jazeera network, and dismantling the Turkish military base in Qatar are among the conditions set for normalizing relations between Arab and Islamic countries and Qatar. According to these conditions: - Qatar must close the Iranian embassy in Doha, the capital of Qatar, along with Iranian consulates in other parts of Qatar. Doha must also expel the members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps present in Qatar. Qatar must stop military cooperation with the Islamic Republic of Iran. It has been communicated to Qatar that it is only permitted to have limited commercial relations - while adhering to the standards arising from US sanctions. - Qatar has been asked to cut ties and support for terrorist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, Al-Qaeda, and Hezbollah and to label them as groups with a terrorist nature. - Qatar must shut down the Al Jazeera television network and its affiliated branches. - News networks that directly or indirectly benefit from Qatari support, such as the channels 'Arabi 21', 'Rasd', 'Al-Arabi Al-Jadid', and 'Middle East Eye', must be shut down. - Qatar is obliged to immediately stop joint military cooperation with Turkey taking place on Qatari soil and to end the presence of Turkish soldiers in the country. - Qatar has been called to expel opponents of Arab countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, and the UAE who have gone to Qatar, and to refrain from granting citizenship to them and to revoke any citizenship potentially granted to them. - Qatar must hand over wanted individuals in other Arab countries, the US, and other countries who have fled their homelands due to accusations of activities against the security of these countries and terrorism and have taken refuge in Qatar, for trial to the governments of these countries; seize their assets and properties; dissolve their organizations and block the financial resources of these groups. - Qatar is obliged to inform the governments of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, the UAE, the US, and other countries about its support and connections with the opponents of these governments. - Qatar has been called to stop interfering in the internal affairs of other countries and harming their foreign interests. - Qatar must pay compensation, whether small or large, for the damages caused by its policies over the past few years; the amount of these compensations will be determined through negotiations with the Qatari government. - Qatar must demonstrate its commitment to moving in military, political, social, and economic arenas towards the Gulf countries, with the aim of strengthening Arab unity and enhancing relations among Gulf countries, based on the standards arising from the 2014 agreement with Saudi Arabia. - Qatar has been obliged to commit to the full implementation of these conditions within ten days of their announcement; otherwise, non-compliance will be considered a rejection of the conditions, and the current announced terms will become invalid. - Qatar must accept that in the first year, its movements will be monitored monthly; in the second year, quarterly reports will suffice, and for the following eight years, annual periodic reports will be expected from Qatar. Meanwhile, this document does not specify what punishment awaits this emirate if Qatar refuses to comply with the conditions. The Gulf Cooperation Council has emphasized that it not only demands compliance with these conditions from Qatar but that the country will be under complete supervision for a ten-year period. Qatar has not yet reacted to this document, but Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani stated on July 1 in an interview with France 24 that his country does not support terrorism. Until now, it seemed that Qatar had been silent in recent days, hoping for normalization of relations or at least to prevent the crisis from worsening. It is still unclear whether the countdown for the implementation of the conditions began on Friday, July 2. Initial reactions to the list of 13 conditions have been reported by Arab media, with Anwar Gargash, the UAE Minister of State, calling on Qatar to take the announced conditions seriously. This Emirati minister reminded the Doha government not to rely on Iran, Turkey, or other factors, as the solution for Qatar lies in building trust with its neighbors in the Gulf. Mr. Gargash stated that Qatar has played the role of a 'Trojan horse' and has financially and media-supported extremist media and platforms; according to him, this 'malicious role' must end. The Emirati minister implicitly accused Qatar of deliberately leaking the list of conditions to the media to sabotage mediation efforts. The Turkish Defense Minister also stated on Friday that his country will not close its military bases in Qatar. According to Fikri Isik, the request to dismantle the Turkish military base in Qatar is foreign interference in Turkey's relations with Qatar. Meanwhile, Al Jazeera, whose closure of all its networks, both Arabic and English, is among the conditions set by the Gulf countries and others for Qatar to normalize relations, has remained silent.