UAE FM on end of Qatar dispute, US, Iran, Turkey

United Arab Emirates' top diplomat says the dispute with Qatar is over, but much is needed to be done to rebuild trust.

"There can't be a kind of an extended disagreement like this without the need for confidence-building steps afterwards. There are some issues, some difficult issues that will come up in the next phase that we must deal with maturely and in a transparent matter," said Anwar Gargash, The United Arab Emirates' Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.

He did not elaborate on what those steps would be.Gargash's comments come after Saudi Arabia ended a three and a half year blockade of Qatar, opening its airspace and looking forward to opening up its land crossing to its tiny Gulf neighbour.On Tuesday, Gulf Arab leaders and a representative from Egypt gathered in Saudi Arabia and signed a declaration to start a new page in brotherly relations, effectively ending Qatar's isolation among the quartet.The declaration touched on some topics that were previously a point of contention between the countries.

"Respect for a country's sovereignty, viewing any threat as a collective threat, and the attitude towards extremism and terrorism, these are all major factors that exist as an overarching framework towards the relationship for the future," Gargash said.

The diplomatic breakthrough followed a final push by the outgoing Trump administration and Kuwait to mediate the dispute.It also came as Saudi Arabia seeks to unify Arab ranks ahead of the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden, which is expected to take a firmer stand toward the kingdom and re-engage with Iran.Gargash rejected the idea that Trump's administration was under any sort of pressure to negotiate an agreement before the outgoing president leaves office.

"I think that they have reached a belief that this is one of the achievements of the current administration in its last months," he said.

The four countries that jointly boycotted Qatar were hoping their embargo and media campaign would pressure it to end its close relations with Turkey and Iran.Egypt and the UAE view the support by Qatar and Turkey of Islamist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood as a security threat.Saudi Arabia and Bahrain meanwhile are primarily concerned about Qatar's ties with Iran.However, the boycott failed to change Doha's stance, instead buoying its young ruler domestically as patriotic fervor swept through Qatar in support of his resolve.

It also pushed Qatar closer to Turkey and Iran, which rushed to assist the ultra-wealthy Gulf state as it faced medical and food supply shortages in the first days of the embargo.But now Gargash struck a lighter tone on the issues of Turkey and Iran, stressing that the UAE wants to have good ties with Turkey and that the solution to the Iran problem must be a political one.

"We want to tell Turkey that we want normal relations that respect sovereignty between us. For example, we want Ankara not to be the main supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood. We want Ankara to restore its Arab relationship. We have no reason to disagree with Turkey," Gargash said.

Is there a problem (with Iran)? Yes, there is a problem, but how do we solve the problem? Solving the problem is by avoiding escalation, by diplomatic and political means,he added.

(IMAGE CREDITS:AP)