US’ Tillerson cancels Mexico trip to focus on Qatar crisis
WASHINGTON/DUBAI — US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson canceled a trip to Mexico to try to resolve a crisis in the Persian Gulf sparked by a Saudi-led coalition’s move to isolate Qatar over its ties to Iran and militant groups.
Mr. Tillerson had been expected to go to Cancun on Monday for less than 24 hours for a meeting of the Organization of American States, where the main focus is to be Venezuela’s political crisis. Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan will go instead, the State Department said in a statement Friday.
“The Secretary of State will continue his efforts to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East region through in-person meetings and phone conversations with Gulf and regional leaders,” the department said. It said Mr. Tillerson has “made more than a dozen phone calls and participated in several in-person meetings.”
The statement marked the first confirmation from the US that Mr. Tillerson, who has met with top officials from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in recent days, is formally trying to mediate a solution to the feud. Shortly after the crisis erupted, President Donald J. Trump offered Mr. Tillerson as a mediator, hoping the secretary could take advantage of ties forged with regional leaders during his years as chief executive officer of ExxonMobil Corp. Kuwait is also trying to broker an end to the dispute.
The spat began earlier this month when Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic, trade and transport links in a move they said was aimed at isolating Qatar for its support of terrorist groups and Iran. Qatar denies all the charges and accuses Saudi Arabia of seeking to dominate smaller states within the region. So far, Qatar hasn’t received any demands from Gulf nations, Foreign Minister Mohammed Al Thani told Qatar TV. A Gulf official with direct knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg on Thursday that Saudi Arabia and the UAE were expected to relay to mediators a list of demands soon.
Qatar’s foreign minister said the delay in providing a list “is evidence of the fragility of the basis of the actions against Qatar.”
The flare-up in the Gulf puts the US in a difficult position because it is allied with nations on both sides of the dispute. Moreover, Qatar hosts the regional headquarters for the US Central Command, which includes a state-ofthe-art air base the Pentagon depends on to target Islamic State.
Mr. Tillerson’s efforts have been hindered by mixed messages from the administration. The secretary of state initially called on Saudi Arabia to ease what he called “the blockade” on June 9, only to have Mr. Trump, at a White House news conference hours later, say the move had been the right one.