Saudi Arabia And Qatar's Diplomatic Fallout, Explained

The Middle Eastern geopolitical landscape shifted over the weekend after a handful of Gulf countries officially cut ties with the small but rich nation of Qatar.

Saudi Arabia, along with Bahrain, the United Arab Eremites and Egypt halted air, sea and land travel to and from Qatar, Bloomberg reported. Saudi Arabia is leading the alliance against Qatar, which is financially supporting "terrorist groups aiming to destabilize the region."

Saudi Arabia singled out Qatar's support of Iranian-backed terrorist groups operating in Saudi Arabia's eastern province and neighboring Bahrain, along with the Muslim Brotherhood, ISIS and al-Qaeda. Qatar also financially supports the Palestinian group Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist group by many Western countries, including the U.S., Canada and the European Union.

Qatari stocks suffered their worst single day performance since 2009 while the price of oil dipped lower Monday morning with US WTI futures trading at $47.70 a barrel, down 26 cents.

U.S. Reaction

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the U.S. government doesn't believe the rift between Saudi Arabia and Qatar will have any significant effect on the fight against terrorism.

"I do not expect that this will have any significant impact, if any impact at all, on the unified — the unified — fight against terrorism in the region or globally," Tillerson told reporters in Sydney, Australia.

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Oil Prices Are Under Pressure, But Russia Says OPEC Deal Is Working ________ Image Credit: "U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson poses for a photo with Secretary of Defense James Mattis, Senator the Honorable Marise Payne Minister for Defence, His Excellency General the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Ret'd) Governor of New South Wales, The Honorable Julie Bishop MP Minister for Foreign Affairs at the NSW Government House ahead of AUSMIN 2017 in Sydney, Australia on 5 June 2017. [State Department Photo/ Public Domain]" By U.S. Department of State from United States - Secretary Tillerson Poses for a Photo With his Counterparts Before the AUSMIN Opening Session, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons