Pentagon reaffirms ‘strategic security partnership’ & mutual interests with ‘terrorist funder’ Qatar

Washington still sees Qatar as a reliable and strategic partner in the US-led anti-Islamic State coalition, despite the ongoing blockade of the Gulf state by four Arab countries which have promised to intensify its sanctions regime over Doha’s alleged support of terrorism.

US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis discussed the “deepening” of the “strategic security partnership” between Washington and Doha with Qatari Minister of State for Defense Affairs Dr. Khalid al-Attiyah, the Pentagon announced.

Mattis especially “emphasized the importance” of Qatar’s role in the US-led anti-IS (Islamic State, formerly ISIS/ISIL) coalition, highlighting Doha’s recent “contribution of C-17 cargo aircraft to the campaign to defeat ISIS.”

In June, at the onset of the Gulf political crisis, Mattis and Al-Attiyah sealed a $12 billion deal for the purchase of up to 36 US-made F-15 fighter jets. At the time, the Pentagon said the agreement will give Doha a “state-of-the-art capability and increase security cooperation and interoperability between the United States and Qatar.”