Qatar-Iran Deepening Relations Are Worrying: Here's The Latest
- Meir Javedanfar
- 6 days ago
- 3 min read
Qatar-Islamic Republic of Iran relations contain numerous commonalities and contentions. And their deepened relations worry the US and Israel.
Why it matters
There’s a joint interest between Qatar and Iran in support for Hamas.
The Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) supports Hamas militarily and financially, while Qatar supports Hamas diplomatically and financially. For many years, Qatar has hosted and protected the Hamas leadership.
Another unmatched and crucial help provided by Qatar to Hamas are the Al Jazeera Arabic (AJA) and Al Jazeera English (AJE) news channels. Both media channels have played an important part in promoting Hamas's image and repeating its talking points in the Arab world and in the West.
Qatar’s support for Hamas and fear of Iran
Qatar is a tremendously wealthy country and has the world’s third highest GDP per capita. Iran’s pathological hatred of Israel and Qatar’s unmatched wealth has created a powerful fusion. It maintains and strengthens Hamas and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
Qatar is also fearful of the IRI. The Qatari leadership is fearful of Iran’s military capabilities. With 1.2 million active and reserve soldiers, Iran has 13 times more military personnel than Qatar’s 87,000. Iran has 25 submarines, whereas Qatar has zero.
Qatar’s lack of military marine logistics capabilities is a major vulnerability for the wealthy Gulf state since it relies on the extraction and maritime export of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) for most of its export income.
Meanwhile, Iran has a very sophisticated network of proxies across the Middle East, whereas Qatar has none. Qatar felt this gap in December 2015 when Iran-aligned Iraqi militia kidnapped 28 members of a Qatari royal hunting party in Iraq. Ultimately, they were released after Qatar paid the ransom money. According to one estimate, Qatar paid a total of $425 million ransom, with $1 billion being another suggested amount.
What’s behind the ‘deeper’ ties between Qatar and Iran?
Previous efforts to disrupt Qatar-Iran relations have failed. Chief among them was the 2017 sea, land, and air blockade of Qatar by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt. During the blockade, Iran’s aerospace provided a crucial lifeline for Qatar’s connection to the outside world. Iran also increased its exports to Qatar, especially food, during the blockade. The blockade ended in January 2021. Ultimately, it led Qatar to place more importance on maintaining cordial ties with IRI.
Qatar and Iran also have points of divergence. The IRI does not like any country hosting US military bases in the region; Qatar hosts al Udeid, the largest US military base in the Middle East. Yet, in supporting Hamas, both are willing to cooperate. It also possible that their cooperation expands into the arena of intelligence sharing.
Some portray Qatar as a positive player because of its role as a facilitator in the recent Gaza negotiations. Others say Qatar is both an arsonist and a firefighter – arsonist, because it has hosted and supported Hamas for many years, and fireman because it has facilitated negotiations to end the war in Gaza.
Ultimately, there must be zero tolerance for arsonists. No matter how well they also play the role of firemen.
Dr. Meir Javedanfar is an Iranian-Israeli lecturer, author, and commentator. He teaches various Iran-related courses at Reichman University in Herzliya, Israel.
His X handle @Meirja.