Tillerson's Visit to the Persian Gulf Aimed at Finding a Solution for the Qatar Crisis

Rex Tillerson, the U.S. Secretary of State, traveled to the Gulf countries on Monday, July 10, with the aim of finding a solution to the Qatar crisis. According to Reuters, Tillerson, who previously established extensive relations with countries in the region as the head of ExxonMobil, is set to meet and discuss with the leaders of Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia and a group of its allied countries accuse Qatar of supporting 'terrorism' and are pressuring Doha to distance itself from Iran and cut ties with groups including Hezbollah in Lebanon; Qatar considers these accusations 'baseless'. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt gave Qatar 10 days to accept 13 conditions for the lifting of sanctions and blockade against it, conditions that Qatar rejected last week and faced threats of intensified sanctions from the aforementioned four countries. According to Reuters, R.C. Hammond, one of Tillerson's senior advisors, explained that the ongoing tensions among a group of Arab countries with Qatar create more opportunities for Iran. 'Our goal is to keep the United States safe and ensure the security of our allies,' he said. The U.S. accuses Iran of supporting terrorism, while the Islamic Republic denies this accusation and reciprocates with similar claims against the U.S. and its allies. Hammond emphasized the importance of both Qatar and Saudi Arabia and its allies taking measures to cut off funding for extremist groups, especially at this time when the Islamic State (ISIS) is facing defeat in Mosul. He added that the purpose of Tillerson's trip to Saudi Arabia and Qatar is to emphasize that 'there is no such thing as can't.' Regarding the 13 conditions from the four countries for improving relations with Qatar, he stated that 'the time for that has passed, and it is not worth emphasizing as a complete package, but there are individual items among those conditions that may allow for cooperation to begin.' According to the 13 conditions, Qatar is asked to severely limit its relations with Iran, shut down the Turkish military base on its territory, and cut ties with regional Islamist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, ISIS, al-Qaeda, and Hezbollah, which is supported by Iran. The closure of Qatar's Al Jazeera network, which faces opposition from Saudi Arabia and some other Arab countries, and Qatar's cooperation in pursuing opponents of the governments of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, the UAE, the U.S., and other countries are also among the 13 conditions for improving relations with Qatar. Qatar has rejected the ultimatum from Saudi Arabia and its allies, deeming the 13 conditions unreasonable and a violation of its sovereignty, and responded negatively by the end of the deadline. Tillerson had previously stated that some of these 13 conditions are 'very tough conditions,' but he also called for cooperation between these four countries and Qatar to find a solution to this crisis. Tillerson has traveled to the Gulf after visiting Turkey, where he discussed regional security issues with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Sunday night. In this context, Qatar claims to have 'enough money' to cope with the consequences of severed relations, responding to Saudi Arabia and its allies' plans to intensify sanctions, while the U.S. is concerned about the deepening Qatar crisis; Tillerson is heading to Kuwait.