Qatar Victim of Hacking, Bahrain Raided Following President Trump’s Trip to the Middle East

Qatar once again found itself troubled as Arab nations blocked access to its flagship Al-Jazeera news network—such websites were found inaccessible after President Trump concluded his visit to the Middle East.  According to Aya Batrawy and Jon Gambrell of ABC News, “Bahrain and Egypt joined Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in blocking the websites, the latest development in a regional crisis sparked by what Qatar described as hackers publishing fake comments on Iran and other issues via its state-run news agency this week.”

President Trump’s visit to the Middle East secured a Saudi-led Gulf alliance consisting of six nations.  But, this “hacking” has reemerged issues in Qatar regarding its suspected support of Islamists—as a result, its Western-backed alliance stands on thin ice.  Mideast and North Africa director Ayham Kamel of the Eurasia Group says, “Trump’s approach will complicate any admittedly remote chance of a Saudi-Iranian détente.  Even before Trump, the Saudis hand embarked on a harsh policy toward Iran—the new U.S. administration will only increase their confidence on this issue.”  His visit resulted in the purchase of a $110 billion Saudi defense system and the creation of cooperations with multiple heads of states.

            But, the peninsular nation seems to have experienced some sort of turmoil as “relations with its neighbors were thrown into chaos this week after Qatari authorities say its state-run news agency was hacked.  Officials say hackers published a fake story claiming that the emir had called Iran an ‘Islamic power’ and said Qatar’s relations with Israel were ‘good’ during a military ceremony.  Messages on the news agency’s Twitter account that Qatar also blamed on the hackers said it planned to recall some of its ambassadors from Arab nations.”  No group has claimed ownership of this apparent cyber-attack yet.

Besides the cyber-attack that followed Trump’s visit, police in Bahrain violently raided a town that led to the arrests of 286 people and the deaths of five demonstrators.  Bahrain, a Sunni-ruled nation, has long accused Iran of arming Shiite radicals and militants—the town that was raided was home to a large Shiite population, and tensions have since risen because of this incident.

Simon Henderson of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy wrote, “Hard-line royal elements who favor tougher action against Shiite protests may regard President Trump’s [comments] in Riyadh as permission to escalate.  [It] could have dangerous consequences for both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.”

Due to such incidents, tensions remain high in the Middle East.  Qatar has since been defensive regarding its cyber-security and is taking measures against another hacking; Bahrain has since received much criticism from outside forces.  Such occurrences have added unwanted strain between countries and their respected allies, but many continue to observe decisions that will become imminent.

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