US officially designates Qatar as a major non-NATO ally

The United States has officially designated Qatar as a major non-NATO ally, a move that upgrades the partnership between Doha and Washington and gives the Gulf country special economic and military privileges in its relationship with the US.

US President Joe Biden issued a presidential declaration formally announcing the change on Thursday afternoon, weeks after a pledge he made to His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani at the White House in late January.

Biden said at that time that designating Qatar a major non-NATO ally of the US aimed“to reflect the importance of our relationship; I think it's long overdue”.

Qatar is now the third country in the Gulf region after Kuwait and Bahrain to become a US major non-NATO ally. The US State Department says on its website that the designation“is a powerful symbol of the close relationship the United States shares with those countries and demonstrates our deep respect for the friendship for the countries to which it is extended”.

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