Jordan–Qatar relations

Although formal diplomatic relations date back to 1972, Qatari and Jordanian officials started cooperating a year earlier. When Qatar gained its independence in September 1971, it flew in Jordanian specialists to assist the new country in planning out its educational, military and economic sectors.[11] In 1972, Qatar opened its embassy in Amman and its first ambassador to Jordan presented his credentials.[12]

Qatar had turbulent relations with Jordan in the early 2000s. In August 1999, Jordan banned the militant Palestinian Islamist group, Hamas.[13] The then Hamas spokesperson in Jordan, Ibrahim Ghosheh was arrested and deported to Qatar in November 1999, along with several other Hamas members, where he lived freely. Jordan and Qatar became involved in a dispute over the matter. It was claimed by Qatar that it had temporarily agreed to host Ghosheh, along with 4 other imprisoned Hamas members, while it negotiated a settlement between the two parties.[14]

On 14 June 2001, Ghosheh unexpectedly returned to Jordan on a Qatar Airways flight. Jordanian authorities grounded the flight he was on at Queen Alia International Airport. A standoff ensued, with the Qatari pilot refusing to leave with Ghosheh on the plane, and the Jordanian authorities refusing to release the flight without Ghosheh being present on the plane.[15] One day into the standoff, Royal Jordanian Airlines froze all flights to Qatar. Two weeks into the stand-off, on 28 June, an agreement was reached between Jordan and Ghosheh in which Ghosheh would be flown to Bangkok and be allowed to return to Jordan if he "froze" his links to Hamas.[13] Flights between the two countries were resumed on 30 June.[16] On 16 July 2001, Qatar Airways announced it would be suing the Jordanian government for $2.2 million.[17]

Authorities in Qatar arrested and tried a Jordanian journalist working for Qatar TV, Firas Majali, on charges of espionage in February 2002.[18] A Qatari court ruled that Firas Majali be sentenced to death in October 2002, and maintained that ruling in February 2003.[19] A month later in March, the Qatari emir granted Majali a pardon after meeting with King Abdullah II of Jordan.[20]

In August 2002, a segment broadcast by Al Jazeera was seen as being insulting to Jordan's ruling family, and in response, one day later Jordan closed Al Jazeera's bureau in the country and withdrew the accreditation of its journalists.[18] Jordan also recalled its ambassador to Doha the same month.[19] In 2003, Jordan reinstated Al Jazeera's Amman bureau.[3]

In response to Qatar's backing of Ban Ki-Moon instead of Jordan's candidate Prince Zeid bin Ra'ad as the Secretary-General of the United Nations in the 2006 election, Jordan decided to withdraw its ambassador from Qatar. Although Qatar expressed its bewilderment of the situation, Jordan retaliated by claiming that all Arab League members had earlier agreed to support Jordan's candidate. Qatari Emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani accused Jordan of launching a media campaign to defame Qatar because of this incident.[21]

On June 6, 2017, one day after the beginning of the 2017 Qatari diplomatic crisis, Jordan announced that it would be cutting back ties with Qatar in solidarity with the blockading countries as well as shuttering the Al Jazeera bureau based there.[22] After the decision was taken, Jordan came under pressure from its parliament to restore diplomatic relations at a normal level and to remain neutral in the conflict.[23]

In July 2019, Jordan and Qatar restored diplomatic ties by appointing new ambassadors.[24][25]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Qatar provided financial assistance to support COVID-19 vaccinations of Jordanians and Syrian refugees in Jordan.[26] In 2020 and 2021, Qatar Fund for Development, Qatar Charity, and Qatar Red Crescent worked together with UNICEF to provide medical support, access to treatment, and safe water in the Zaatari refugee camp.[27][28]