The Department of Justice is requiring that an affiliate of the Qatari-funded news network Al Jazeera register as a foreign agent, in a move that came the same week the White House orchestrated the signing of a historic deal between Israel and Qatar’s rival, the United Arab Emirates. 

Jay Bratt, chief of the department’s counterintelligence and export control section, said in a Sept. 14 letter first reported on by Mother Jones that Al Jazeera’s Washington-headquartered digital outlet, AJ+, acts “at the direction and control” of Qatar and engages in “political activities” on its behalf. As "an agent of the Government of Qatar," Bratt said the outlet should register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).

A number of Republican lawmakers have sent letters to the Justice Department calling for Al Jazeera's registration. Last year, the administration ordered Turkish public broadcaster TRT be listed as a foreign agent.

The AJ+ news broke the same day President Donald Trump presided over a signing ceremony normalizing relations between Israel and Qatar’s regional adversaries, the UAE and Bahrain.