12 January – Egypt reopens its airspace to Qatari aircraft, and will allow the resumption of direct flights between the countries, which have been suspended since 2017.[2]
16 January – Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud announces that Saudi Arabia will re-open its embassy in Qatar in the coming days, after a diplomatic crisis that saw the nations severing ties for three years.[4]
7 April – Qatar announces a re-imposition of the strict lockdown beginning April 9, which will close restaurants, cafés, cinemas, hairdressers, museums, and libraries and ban most indoor activities, in order to reduce the number of COVID-19 cases.[5]
16 May – After discussions in Qatar and Pakistan, Taliban representatives have reportedly agreed to substantive talks with the Afghan Republic team in Doha, and to attend a summit in Istanbul that they initially refused to attend.[6]
17 May – The offices of the Qatar branch of the Red Crescent Society is destroyed by an Israeli air strike, killing two Palestinians and wounding ten others. The Qatari Foreign Ministry condemns the attack.[7]
19 May – 2021 Qatari general election: The Qatari cabinet approves a draft law scheduling elections to the Shura Council for October, after several years of delays. The law also provides guidelines for voter registration and campaigning, such as allowing government employees to run and limiting expenditures to QAR2 million per candidate.[8]
9 October – The U.S. State Department confirms that the first face-to-face meetings with high representatives of the Taliban since the departure of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, will begin today in Doha, Qatar. A spokesperson for the State Department says that the U.S. will pressure the Taliban to "respect the rights of all Afghans, including women and girls" and form an inclusive government. The spokesperson also clarifies that this is not a recognition of the Taliban government by the U.S., saying that the Taliban will have to earn recognition by its actions.[17]
