Qatar’s always been warm and fuzzy with Iran.... they both rely on the same huge natural gas field [which 2/3 lies in Qatari territory] and Qatar probably gets its oil from a field adjoining Iran’s as well. Since Qatar has the benefit of good relations with the wider world they are able to increase their extraction and stay on the cutting edge of technology while Iran has a harder time keeping up with extraction methods and technology...and that makes Iran a large and snippy neighbor that Qatar feels an economic need to mollify. Follow the money...
Very good explanation Piasa. I think that this latest rift with Saudi land, also, is because Qatar is rich, and has a natural gas industry. They look like a tempting target to their Gulf Arab “brothers.”