Tillerson: Dispute between Gulf states and Qatar won't affect counterterrorism

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson offered Monday to help mediate in an escalating dispute between Qatar and a handful of other U.S.-allied Arab states, but he downplayed the impact of the feud on American-led efforts to fight terrorism.

His comments came hours after Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain announced they were breaking off diplomatic ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting terrorism through alleged support for the Muslim Brotherhood and Iran.


The five countries all play key roles in U.S. counter-terrorism efforts, especially against the Islamic State terrorist group. Qatar is the site of a major U.S. airbase, but America also has military assets in other parts of the Persian Gulf.

"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, where he and Defense Secretary James Mattis were meeting with Australian officials.

The secretary of state noted that the countries had pledged their ongoing support for the U.S.-led efforts during a recent summit attended by President Donald Trump in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

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“We certainly would encourage the parties to sit down together and address these differences, and we — if there’s any role that we can play in terms of helping them address those, we think it is important that the GCC remain unified,” Tillerson said.

Mattis agreed with Tillerson, saying he was “positive there will be no implications coming out of this dramatic situation at all.”

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, deputy White House press secretary, told reporters at the afternoon briefing on Monday that Trump is "committed to continuing to have conversations with all of the people involved in that process with all of those countries."

"We want to continue to deescalate that," she said. "At this point, we're continuing to work with each of those partners."

Qatar insists it does not support terrorism and has downplayed links to Iran. Last month, a state news agency in Qatar claimed it had been the victim of a hack after it published a story quoting the country's emir saying positive things about Iran.

Qatar's foreign ministry called the countries' decision "unjustified" and "based on baseless and unfounded allegations" in a statement Monday.

"Qatar is an active member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), committed to its Charter, respects the sovereignty of other countries, does not interfere in their internal affairs, and carries out its duties in combating terrorism and extremism," the statement said.

Tensions between Qatar and other Gulf Arab states had been simmering for many months, but breaking off diplomatic ties is a dramatic statement of discontent. A former U.S. official with ties to the region said he and others were “stunned” by the degree the conflict had suddenly spiked.

The former official added, however, that Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia — during which he spoke out strongly against Iran — might have given that Arab monarchy and other countries confidence that they could push to isolate Qatar and not get much blowback from Washington.

The many vacancies in the leadership ranks at the State Department and the Pentagon could also have undercut U.S. officials’ ability to monitor and try to calm the growing tensions, observers said.

But even during the Obama administration, when the agencies were fully staffed, Arab states took measures with little to no notice to the United States. That includes Saudi Arabia’s move to attack Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen.