ABSTRACT
Qatar's bid to seize the disputed island territory of Fasht al-Dibal from Bahrain was clearly the outstanding event for the tiny Shaykhdom during the period under review. But outside of this incident and its immediate repercussions for Qatar's relations with both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, Qatar remained relatively stable. At the end of 1985, Iran's Ambassador to Qatar said on Radio Tehran that Iran sought to maintain the security of the Gulf region and was interested "in expanding relations with other countries, particularly Qatar." The Qatari Press continued to be highly critical of United States (US) policy in the Middle East; in 1986 it focused on the growing military confrontation between the US and Libya and on the revelations concerning American arms transfers to Iran. Outside of the Gulf, Qatar maintained close ties with Egypt, despite the continued absence of full diplomatic relations between them.
