国际英语资讯:Spotlight: Diplomatic crisis in Middle East disrupts regional security, political balance_时事

国际英语资讯:Spotlight: Diplomatic crisis in Middle East disrupts regional security, political balance

However, Qatar's official news agency posted an alleged speech of Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani at a military graduation ceremony last month, which described Hamas as "the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people," and called Iran "a big power in the stabilization of the region."

Doha later denied the speech, saying the agency was hacked and posted false statements.

Qatar has been interacted with Iran for a long time and ignored the anti-Iran alliance after U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to Riyadh, and "finally it pays the price for its shaky foreign policy," said Nurhan Al-Sheikh, a professor of political science at Cairo University.

DIVIDED GCC

Established in 1981, the GCC comprising six rich Arab countries, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, the UAE and Qatar, with its headquarters in the Saudi capital of Riyadh.

As traditional powers like Egypt and Syria were dragged into turmoil and civil war in 2011, and Iraq struggled with reforms after the U.S. invasion in 2003, the GCC in fact dominated regional affairs involving Arab countries in recent years and rallied against Iran in Yemen and Syria.

Observers said in the past six years, Qatar has been competing with Saudi Arabia for the leading role in the Arab world.

Qatar hopes that it could become a broker between the Gulf countries and Iran, advocating improved relations with Tehran, which is resented by Saudi Arabia, said Sun Degang, deputy director of the Middle East Studies Institute at Shanghai International Studies University.