Alone among the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Qatar for years was friendly to the Islamic Republic of Iran, so friendly, in fact, that on June 5, 2017, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt severed diplomatic ties with Qatar, and imposed a land, sea, and air blockade on the emirate, accusing it of supporting terrorism and maintaining close ties with Iran. This crisis lasted until January 2021, without Qatar having yielded to their demands that it distance itself from Iran. It came as a shock, then, when Iran began attacking Qatar, firing ballistic missiles and drones not just on the American airbase at Al-Udeid, but also at other, strictly Qatari targets, including Ras Laffan, where much of Qatar’s liquefied natural gas is — or was — produced.
More on Qatar’s shock and rage at being attacked by Iran, its quondam ally, is discussed here: “Qatar facing ‘strategic shock’ in energy, influence crisis in wake of Iran war,” by Eli Leon, Jerusalem Post, April 20, 2026:
The temporary ceasefire announced earlier this month between the United States, Israel, and Iran may have halted active firing, but for Qatar, the war left deep scars.
An extensive report by the New York Times revealed that the Gulf state suffered fatal blows to its economy and is in a state of “strategic shock.”
During the conflict, Qatar faced no fewer than 700 Iranian missile and drone attacks targeting US bases on its territory. Although its air defense systems intercepted most of the threats and no civilian casualties were reported, the impact on the local economy was devastating.
The local tourism industry collapsed completely, Qatar Airways planes were grounded, and many foreign residents fled the country.
Like its neighbor the UAE, Qatar has been intent on creating a second source of wealth — beyond its energy sector — in building up a tourist industry. Qatar was seen as an island of tranquility and luxury in a region that instability has buffeted. Rich foreigners bought apartments in Qatar; tourism from Europe and from elsewhere in the Middle East was exploding. This was to be the alternate source of revenue for Qatar, which sought to diversity its economy and become less reliant on its sale of liquefied natural gas.
The hardest hit of all was felt by the Qatari energy industry. The state-owned energy company was forced to shut down liquefied natural gas production at its main site, Ras Laffan, as it became clear at the beginning of the war that it was impossible to safely export goods through the Strait of Hormuz. In mid-March, the site suffered a direct Iranian strike that caused enormous damage….
In recent years, Doha has sought to buy favor from US President Donald Trump through ostentatious gestures. It started with the gift of a Boeing plane to Trump, continued with real estate deals to build branded golf courses, and went so far as to promise a whopping $1.2 trillion in investments during a Trump visit to Qatar last May.
Now that Qatar has suffered such damage to its natural-gas infrastructure, that will take five years to repair, and a loss of revenues during that time of at least $20 billion a year — according to Qatari experts — that grandiose promise to invest $1.2 trillion in the U.S. — will not be fulfilled.
Over the last two decades, Qatar has spent in the U.S. some $100 billion ($5 billion a year), on universities; on the media, including its own munificently funded Al Jazeera; on K Street lobbyists; and on politicians who, when the price is right, find themselves singing the praises of the Al Thani family who rule in Doha. But for all that money, Qatar still has less clout in Washington that it expected, and certainly less — even though Israel has taken a hint in the public perception of the Jewish state — influence than the Jewish state in the corridors of power.
Iran is now like a wounded animal, striking out at all six of its Arab neighbors in the region. Instability in Iran means instability among all of its Gulf Arab neighbors. Even if tomorrow America’s war with Iran were to end, as long as the current regime in Iran stays in power, there is the threat that it will lash out at the other Gulf states, if only to remove rival energy producers from the world market. Once Qatar’s carefully cultivated image as a reliable and secure place to do business has been shattered, it will take many years of quiet for that image to re-emerge. Western expats have now been pulling up stakes in Qatar, selling their apartments, not wanting to risk an Iranian drone or missile landing on their heads. Western businesses are also leaving, not just out of fear of Iranian attacks, but because they cannot attract European employees to staff their enterprises as they could just a few months ago. Finally, Qatar realizes that its economy depends on the safe transport of liquefied natural gas through the Strait of Hormuz, which is now seen as a chokepoint that Iran entirely controls. And tankers carrying liquefied natural gas from Qatar are no longer able to go through the Strait. Qatar now realizes it can no longer rely on the Strait of Hormuz being open to its LNG tankers at any given moment; that will be a decision that the state of relations between Tehran and Washington will determine, along with how intent the Iranians will be on punishing the Gulf Arab states for continuing to house American bases.
The shock and rage felt in Qatar toward Iran will take years to dissipate. Qatar did everything it could to promote Iranian interests in the GCC states, even as several Arab states (Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt) that wanted to force Qatar to cut its close ties with Iran imposed a blockade. And those Iranian missiles and drones that have been landing in Doha are the thanks Qatar received in return. After the UAE, Qatar is the Arab state that has been the victim of the most Iranian attacks. It will be a very long time before Qatar will trust Iran again.
CM says
There’s an old story about the frog and the scorpion.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
B/w the islamic regime and Qatar, which is which? Maybe change the story into that of a snake and a scorpion
J. says
Haha, so I should thank Iran for seriously harming Qatar; at least Qatar won’t have time to spread its nefarious ideology in the West, since it will be busy rebuilding its economy.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Seconded! Also, by shattering the illusion of Qatar being a stable and safe place to invest, as well as buy property or tour, the islamic regime, ironically, has done the world a big favor and also done a major disservice to the cause of dawa by hurting the #1 funder of dawa – the country that bankrolls the muslim brotherhood as well dawa groups like Tabhlighi Jamaat. Suddenly, Doha no longer has so much disposable money to toss into mosques or dawa activities, just like Saudi Arabia discovered some 10 years ago
Taffy says
The Al Thani family is displeased. Several months ago, Trump forced Israel to apologize to Qatar for trying to assassinate one of their resident Hamas leaders. Now, Iran is indiscriminately shooting up the entire Middle East including Qatar. Those Muzzies sure do choose strange bedfellows.
Maybe Iran turned on Qatar because they are Hanbali Sunni Muslims, i.e. the wrong kind. I believe that it was Iran’s plan to first kill the Saturday people, then the Sunday people and then their fellow Friday people who don’t believe that the governing class need to be direct descendants of Muhammad.
The IRGC major general in charge is probably hiding deep inside a mountain and needs to have his world rocked by a GBU 57 after his location is firmly determined.
ploome says
What the west has to do is to financially trangle these islamic states.
Buy their oil if only if needed, but deny them any access to western banks, investments, land purchase and any and all other trade.
And certainly reject ALL immigration from these cultures.
There is absolutely nothing we need from any of the OIC members,
gravenimage says
+1
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Taffy
I don’t think that Iran turned on Qatar for any islamic reasons. I think that after the Iranians eliminated most of the IRGC & Basij leadership, the remaining members of those militias were now free to do anything, and so they did. In the past, if they had any resentments against others like Qatar or Turkey, the regime leaders held them back, since it valued those alliances. Now w/ them dead, if they are upset at Qatar hosting al Udeid or anything else, they’re free to lash out and did
In the end, this was a lose-lose scenario for both Qatar and the islamic regime. The latter used to launder money through banks in Doha and Dubai, but now, after these attacks, both Qatar and Emirates have for the first time ever worked w/ US in identifying accounts of regime figures, which should help put the squeeze on them. Hopefully, that makes it harder for the regime to pay even itself, and thereby implode. In the meantime, the IRGC drones have taken out Ras Laffan, and it’s not just gas that has been hit. One of the major by-products of that plant is helium, which is an important coolant used in semiconductor manufacturing – and Qatar produces 33% of the world’s helium (which is a natural gas by-product). Yeah, the world’s helium supply has been upset, but so has an important revenue stream for Qatar
As I note below, I’m thrilled at this twist to events, just like I was thrilled at the war b/w Afghanistan and Pakistan
Taffy says
I agree with most of what you say, but it still doesn’t explain why Qatar’s gas facilities were targeted in addition to the U.S. bases.
As far as helium is concerned, the U.S. is well stocked. The U.S. government had about 1 billion cubic meters of helium stored in Texas per the original National Helium Act of the 1920’s. The natural gas wells in the vicinity had an unusually high percentage of helium (~2%). In 2013, there was a bill before Congress to privatize US helium reserves. But before that, Brookhaven National Labs, here in New York, took their foreseeable needs and then some for the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. Congress then had to debate for a few days on the allocation of helium among other national labs and private users such as for MRI machines. Then the genius Hank Johnson reminds his fellow representatives to not forget the birthday balloons.
https://youtu.be/Z2jVTbwVGko?si=LDSrBBCBwSM1tpih
Finally, Congress voted to privatize the national stock in Texas, but that was delayed several times because of new gas discoveries in the area. The bottom line is tha5 the U.S. has all the helium it will ever need, even for Hank Johnson’s birthday balloons. Europe, China, Japan and semiconductor hubs such as Malaysia are the big customers of Qatar’s helium.
JS says
I will never forget what Bush said after 911. He said a few things, but one was “I will turn them against each other.” I never forgot that, and agree with him completely.
Also, I’m wondering if Trump is aware that “the deal” will not go through. Then again, it also makes me wonder if they’re using that as an excuse to cancel the deal? It would be great if Trump would now stop kissing Islamic butt – but so far there’s been no indication of that.
Anyway, this is the best news I’ve heard in awhile, but we must be ready to move with all their crafty deceit. While I’ll stock up on the popcorn, nothing can ever be counted on – if it’s coming from Islam.
Cynthia says
+1
For centuries factions of Islam have been fighting each other. However, Sunni and Shiite band together with their ultimate goal of defeating the west. Iran supports Sunni Hamas and the PA Palestinians in order to defeat the western country of Israel.
Both Sunni and Shiite fund our universities and pollute our social media platforms to turn us against each other.
Do you really believe Muslims who march with women’s groups believe in women’s rights? Do you really believe that Muslims are pro transgender (Mamdani) are in league with leftist values?
The red/green alliance is a total hoax to destroy us.
Luchtpint says
Iran is like a cornered wild animal lashing out indiscriminately. No wonder these fanatics are hellbent on destroying the region. In a sense, it shows you how desperate the mullahcracy has become. Alas, the Iranian people are going to suffer more as a consequence, I believe. If the mullahs can’t hack it militarily on the international stage, then they’ll probably start cranking up the suppression of their own people.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Oil & gas is one thing: energy sources being what they are, we’re stuck w/ it, and w/ that, enriching countries like Qatar, the islamic republic & other rogue countries. However, what beats me is the claim that tourism would be a potential revenue source for Qatar. Why, just why on earth would any non-muslim want to go there, of all places? During the FIFA world cup, there were stories of how Qatari dawa artists tried enticing tourists to convert to islam. That’s a pretty unpleasant experience for any tourist
The main reason to tour any country would be if it had places of historical interest. Like most of Europe, Israel, Iran (once their pre-islamic Persian sites are renovated and made presentable for tourists), et Al. If one is a muslim, there are countries/places that would be of interest for muslim tourists – Saudi Arabia (Mecca, Medina), Syria (Damascus, Masyaf, Raqqa), Iraq (Baghdad, Kufa, Najaf, Karbala), Uzbekistan (Buqhara, Samarqand)….. Even for them, Qatar wouldn’t be a place of historical interest to go to
Anyway, I for one am happy that this has happened: couldn’t have happened to a better country. Wonder whether Trump is insisting that the islamic regime leaders apologize to the al Thanis? If he can figure out who to ask 😂🤣
Wellington says
Were all the world to come under Islamic suzerainty (well, there’s a horrible prospect for you), then it would be the case that Muslims will keep assaulting other Muslims because, for one reason or another, you can never be Muslim enough and the solution for this, per Mo himself, is to often invoke violence to “solve matters.”
Yes, Islam is steeped in a highly warped theological blueprint and which blueprint guarantees regular disruption, destruction and death and about no other major religion’s theological blueprint can this even remotely be said.
Put simply, Islam sucks. This is the long and short of it. And this verity is on display throughout the world for all to see on a daily basis. Deeply unfortunately, much of the world continues not to see this.
gravenimage says
Spot on, Wellington.
James Lincoln says
Just wondering if Tucker Carlson is still planning on purchasing a home in Qatar.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
James
Fantastic question! What I’m wondering though is 2 things:
1. Has Tucker condemned the drone attacks on Qatar, be it either al Udeid or Ras Laffan? Or has he chosen to not take sides?
2. Do the Qataris still have open for him the mansion that he bought at the price it was offered? Or has that been revoked due to the islamic regime using his monologs as propaganda?
I actually don’t give a hoot what he does anymore, but would love to be a fly on the wall and see what the Qatari stance towards him now is. He can expect nothing from Iran, since the fall of this regime is inevitable, and the Iranian people, once they are liberated, will count him as one of their enemies who’s by no means welcome in their country
James Lincoln says
Infidel,
Yes, important questions.
Excellent post.