Foreign Policy: Qatar's isolation can lead to a big war

Baku. 6 June. REPORT.AZ/ Diplomatic isolation of Qatar can be the beginning of a new big war.

Report informs citing the Foreign Policy, director of the Gulf andEnergy Policy Program at The Washington Institute Simon Henderson writes.

"These countries have long sought to war with Iran, the situation with Qatar is perhaps just an excuse they have decided to take advantage of," Henderson believes.

According to the author, the world today may be on the verge of a historical moment comparable to the assassination of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo in 1914, which served as a formal occasion for the outbreak of World War I.

A number of Arab countries severed diplomatic relations with Doha, accusing the emirate of supporting terrorists. In addition, Riyadh announced a ban on Qatar Airways, the closure of the land border with this country and the ports for its ships. It is reported that Tehran has already offered assistance to Qatar and is ready to provide it with its three ports. Riyadh and Abu Dhabi is likely to be perceive this gesture as confirmation of the "treacherous" ties between Doha and Tehran, the expert believes.

At the same time, the formal goal of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates is not Iran, but Qatar, which has long been out of the general agreement of the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf with regard to relations with Tehran.

From the expert's point of view, Washington can play an important role in the detente of this potentially explosive situation, and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is in a favorable position, since before his inauguration he headed ExxonMobil, the main foreign player in the energy sector of Qatar.

"Washington needs to act quickly and stop this march in the direction of war, and not wait until the massacre begins," S. Henderson believes.