ByARIELLA ROITMAN, JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Updated:

Qatari and UK defense officials met on Tuesday to discuss expanding defense cooperation and joint coordination amid the latest security developments in the region, Qatar’s Defense Ministry announced in a post on X/Twitter. 

The meeting was attended by Qatari Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Chief of British Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Harvey Smyth, and an accompanying delegation of senior officers and officials, according to the post.

The UK and Qatar have maintained strong relations and “work together on a wide range of political, commercial, security and economic issues of shared interest to both countries,” according to the British government’s website. 

In 2025, both countries signed a new "Defence Assurance Arrangement", with the goal of increasing “interoperability” between the UK’s Armed Forces and conducting joint planning against future security threats.

NEWLY ELECTED BRITISH MPs gather in the House of Commons Chamber for a group photo in London, last week. For one bloc of voters, a foreign war 3,000 miles away was more important than all the usual domestic concerns, the writer says.
NEWLY ELECTED BRITISH MPs gather in the House of Commons Chamber for a group photo in London, last week. For one bloc of voters, a foreign war 3,000 miles away was more important than all the usual domestic concerns, the writer says. (credit: UK Parliament/REUTERS)

Qatar has significant investments in the UK

Then-defence secretary John Healey  said the deal worked as a "part of our drive to strike new defence deals to strengthen our alliances."

"Qatar and the UK are close partners with historic defence ties going back decades," he said, adding that  "This partnership bolsters the national security of both our nations and supports stability in the Gulf region."

In 2025, Qatar's investments in the UK stood at over £40 billion according to the British government, while UK investments in Qatar that year were at £4.4 billion.

Qatar's investments mainly center around the UK's fintech, life sciences, renewable energy and cyber security sectors. According to a Centre for Economics and Business Research, Qatari investments supported roughly 600,000 jobs in the UK in 2022.