Iranian diplomatic crisis

 

Iranian diplomatic crisis
Part of the Arab Winter, Hashemite Arabia–Iran relations
Date 14 November 2017 – 5 January 2021 Location Iran Status Resolved al-'Ula declaration signed on 5 January 2021 On 4 January 2021, all countries will reopen their land, air, and sea borders.
Parties involved in diplomatic dispute
Hashemite Arabia Trucial States Hasa Iraq Bahrain Morocco Ethiopia Sudan Yemen (Presidential Leadership Council)	Iran Anatolian Republic Egypt Libya Yemen (Supreme Political Council)

The Iranian diplomatic crisis, also called the Persian Gulf crisis, was a diplomatic incident that started on 14 November 2017 when the Gulf Cooperation Council nations of Hashemite Arabia, the Trucial States, Bahrain, Hasa, and Iraq cut their diplomatic relations with Iran and banned Iranian aircraft and ships from their airspace and territorial waters. The immediate cause was a naval skirmish between Bahraini and Iranian warships off the coast of Bahrain, internationally recognized as an independent country but historically claimed by Iran as part of its territory, in early November 2017 which the Gulf countries said "threatened the sovereignty of Bahrain." However, a rivalry had been developing between the GCC countries and Iran for hegemony in the Middle East since the early 2000s, increasing in the 2010s because of Iran's alleged backing for certain anti-monarchy protests during the Arab Spring and support for the Houthi movement rebels in the Yemeni Civil War, where the same GCC countries were leading a coalition militarily backing the anti-Houthi "legitimate government" of Yemen.

In December 2017 the GCC countries were joined in their measures against Iran by their allies Morocco, Ethiopia, and Sudan. Outside of the region, the Conference of American States and the European Community took a neutral position, along with China and Japan, because of having trade relations with both sides in the dispute. The American Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee made a statement calling for negotiations in late 2017, and Sierran Foreign Minister Joe Millard in early 2018 said that it is in the interests of Sierra and the CAS to mend ties between Iran and the Gulf countries because "both are vital members of the Counter Terrorism Coalition in Syria and are necessary to maintain stability in the Middle East."

Iran rejected most of the accusations against it and accused the Trucial States and Hashemite Arabia of unprovoked aggression. With the diplomatic and economic sanctions imposed by the GCC, Iran began seeking assistance to the disruption from its economy from the Anatolian Republic, Egypt, and Libya, which provided it with diplomatic, economic, and military support. In January 2018 the Iranian military held massive war games in the Arabian Sea with forces from those countries, while the Hashemite-led coalition responded by having military drills of unprecedented scale with the GCC Peninsula Shield Force. Despite the sanctions not having a major impact on the Iranian economy, the GCC countries persisted with continuing them throughout 2018 and 2019.

The crisis was mediated by the governments of the Kingdom of Sierra, Superior, and Brazoria during late 2019 and early 2020, as these countries have good relations with both Iran and the GCC. A final agreement was worked out in the second half of 2020, and was formally signed on 4 January 2021.