Confusion in Washington complicates spat involving Qatar

THE row between Qatar and several of its Arab neighbours comes at a time when it seems the situation in the Middle East could not get any more tangled.

As it is, the region is watching the slow and agonising breakup of Syria and Iraq. The Islamic State (IS) is fighting all and sundry to hold on to the territorial gains it made two years ago. Both the leaders of Syria and Iraq have sworn to rid themselves of these militants. The Syrian regime is protected by Russia and, to a lesser extent, Iran. The Iraqis have the support of the US. But Americans also support rebels trying to overthrow Syria's President Bashir al Assad. And Washington also backs Syrian Kurds fighting IS militants. This has raised the ire of Turkey, a US ally that hosts two US military bases on its territory. Ankara senses that an empowered Kurdish population along its border with Syria could trigger demands from its own Kurdish population for a state of their own. Thus, it conducts operations against Kurdish forces on its Syrian border.

Iran, the major Shia power in the region, is using both its own forces and those of its ally, the Hizbollah militia from southern Lebanon, to prop up the Assad regime. Israel is doing what it deems fit to weaken Hizbollah and ward off Iranians who come too close to its borders. Saudi Arabia and the other Sunni-led regimes fear Tehran's clout in the various theatres of war. The Saudis are locked in a war in Yemen against Iran-backed militants.