Monday 5 June 2017 - 17:20
Story Code : 263628
Iran calls for peaceful solution to Persian Gulf crisis
4:30 p.m.
Iran says rising tensions among its ArabPersian Gulf neighbors threaten the interests of everyone in the region and has called for "political and peaceful methods" to resolve the crisis.
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, as well as Egypt, severed diplomatic ties with Qatar on Monday, accusing the gas-rich nation of supporting regional terrorist groups. The four nations also moved to cut off Qatar's land, sea and air routes to the outside world.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi was quoted on the ministry's website as calling for a "clear and explicit dialogue" among the feuding nations.
Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency said Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, discussed the recent developments in a phone conversation.
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4:15 p.m.
Maldives has announced it is severing diplomatic ties with Qatar over its alleged support for Islamist groups.
It joined Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in cutting diplomatic ties with Qatar on Monday and began withdrawing its diplomatic staff.
The foreign ministry said in a statement that Maldives has pursued a policy of promoting peace and stability in the Middle East, and the decision was made because of its firm opposition to activities that encourage terrorism and extremism.
Diplomatic relations between Maldives and Qatar began in 1984.
Maldives, a predominantly Sunni Muslim nation with 341,000 people, also grapples with extremism. It reportedly has one of the highest per capital rates of people going to fight in foreign wars.
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4:10 p.m.
Egypt's foreign ministry says it has given the Qatari ambassador in Cairo 48 hours to leave the country and ordered its own envoy in Doha to return home, also within two days.
Monday's announcement came just hours after Egypt joined three of itsPersian Gulf Arab allies - Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates - in severing ties with Qatar over its relations with Iran and support for militant Islamic groups.
An earlier statement by the Egyptian ministry said Egypt was also suspending air and sea links to Qatar and, citing national security, closing its airspace to Qatari aircraft.
Egypt's relations with Qatar have been fraught with tension since the ouster in 2013 by the military of an Islamist president allied with Doha. It also accuses the tiny but energy-richPersian Gulf nation of supporting militant Islamic groups and meddling in its domestic affairs.
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3:50 p.m.
Following suit, one of Libya's three rival governments has announced cutting diplomatic relations with Qatar, after four Arab countries severed ties.
Mohammed al-Deri, the Libyan foreign minister of the interim Libyan government, accused Qatar of "harboring terrorism" according to a Libyan official agency LANA.
The Interim government is affiliated with the internationally recognized House of Representatives and is based in eastern Libya. Another internationally recognized Government of National Accord is seated in Tripoli and brokered by the United Nations. A third rival government is also based in Tripoli.
The eastern Libyan power players have always accused Qatar and Turkey of backing Islamists in Libya, including the Muslim Brotherhood.
Libya sank into lawlessness after the ouster and killing of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.
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3:40 p.m.
Turkey has voiced its "sadness" over thePersian Gulf Arab states dispute with Qatar and said it was willing to work to normalize ties.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Monday called on all sides of the dispute to press ahead with dialogue and overcome differences in a "peaceful way."
Turkey has developed close ties with both Qatar and Saudi Arabia in recent years.
Cavusoglu said: "We are saddened by the existing picture. We will provide every kind of support for the situation to be normalized."
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1:15 p.m.
The head of Iran's influential parliamentary committee on national security and foreign policy says the differences between Saudi Arabia and Qatar are the result of U.S. President Donald Trump's recent visit to the region
The official IRNA news agency on Monday cited Alaeddin Boroujerdi as saying that because of the signing of a major arms deal between the Saudis and the U.S. during Trump's trip: "It is not unlikely that we would witness more negative incidents in the region."
Boroujerdi says Washington has always made it a policy to establish a rift among Muslim countries. He says: "Intervention of foreign countries, especially the United States, cannot be the solution to regional problems."
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2:30 p.m.
Al-Jazeera is reporting that trucks carrying food for Qatar are now lining up across the border in Saudi Arabia, unable to enter the country amid a diplomatic row between it and Arab nations.
Saudi Arabia announced Monday it would close its land border to Qatar, part of it cutting diplomatic ties to the country along with Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.
That could mean significant trouble for Qatar, which relies on food trucked in from Saudi Arabia.
Doha News, a local news website in Qatar, reported some citizens and residents of the energy rich country already had begun swarming grocery stores. It said some stores had begun seeing their shelves empty over fears that the crisis could see groceries run out of products.
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2:20 p.m.
International soccer's governing body says it remains in "regular contact with Qatar" amid a growing diplomatic crisis between it and other Arab countries.
FIFA issued a short statement Monday saying it spoke with "the Qatar 2022 Local Organizing Committee and the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy handling matters relating to the 2022 FIFA World Cup."
It said: "We have no further comments for the time being."
The statement comes after Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates all cut diplomatic ties Monday to Qatar over its support of Islamist groups and its relations with Iran.
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2:15 p.m.
A low-cost airline based in the United Arab Emirates says it is suspending flights to Qatar along with other Emirati airlines over a growing diplomatic crisis.
Air Arabia says it flights will be suspended from Tuesday "until further notice."
It is joining Emirates, Etihad and FlyDubai in halting flights to the Qatari capital of Doha. Saudi Arabian Airlines also stopped its flights to Qatar.
The airlines' decision comes as Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE all cut diplomatic ties Monday to Qatar over its support of Islamist groups and its relations with Iran.
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1:10 p.m.
Saudi Arabian Airlines says it is suspending flights to Qatar, joining other airlines stopping service amid a growing diplomatic rift.
The airline, also known as Saudia, posted on Twitter on Monday afternoon that it would be halting flights, without elaborating.
It is joining Emirates, Etihad and FlyDubai in halting flights to the Qatari capital of Doha.
The airlines' decision comes as Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE all cut diplomatic ties Monday to Qatar over its support of Islamist groups and its relations with Iran.
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12:05 p.m.
Dubai's budget carrier FlyDubai says it has canceled its flights to Qatar amid a diplomatic dispute between it and other Arab countries.
The carrier said Monday that all flights starting Tuesday would be suspended. It offered no other details.
FlyDubai's decision follows that of Emirates and Etihad in canceling flights to Doha.
Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE all cut diplomatic ties earlier Monday to Qatar over its support of Islamist groups and its relations with Iran.
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11:45 a.m.
Yemen's internationally recognized government has cut relations with Qatar and says it supports the decision by the Saudi-led coalition to end Qatar's participation in the war on the Houthis there.
Four Arab nations cut diplomatic ties to Qatar early Monday morning over its support for Islamist groups and its relations with Iran.
Qatar had participated in the coalition since March 2015.
The government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi says it severed ties with Qatar in part over its support of extremist groups in Yemen "in contradiction with the goals announced by the countries supporting the legitimate government."
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11:20 a.m.
The Dubai-based airline Emirates says it is suspending flights to Qatar amid a growing diplomatic rift.
Emirates said on its website Monday flights would be suspended until further notice starting Tuesday.
The airline's decision comes as Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE all cut diplomatic ties Monday to Qatar over its support of Islamist groups and its relations with Iran.
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10:55 a.m.
Qatar says there is "no legitimate justification" for four Arab nations cutting diplomatic ties to it.
Qatar also says the decision is a "violation of its sovereignty," vowing to its citizens it won't affect them.
Qatar's Foreign Affairs Ministry made the statement Monday, hours after Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates announced it would be cutting ties to the peninsular nation.
The dispute between Qatar and thePersian Gulf's Arab countries started over a purported hack of Qatar's state-run news agency. It has spiraled since.
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9:35 a.m.
The Abu Dhabi-based airline Etihad says it is suspending flights to Qatar amid a growing diplomatic rift.
Etihad said on its website Monday its last flights "until further notice" would leave early Tuesday morning.
Etihad gave no reason for the decision. It is the flag carrier of the United Arab Emirates.
The airline's decision comes as Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE all cut diplomatic ties Monday to Qatar over its support of Islamist groups and its relations with Iran.
Qatar has yet to comment on the growing crisis.
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7:10 a.m.
The United Arab Emirates and Egypt have cut diplomatic ties to Qatar.
The two countries have joined Saudi Arabia and Bahrain in cutting ties to Qatar amid a growing Arab diplomatic dispute with the small, gas-rich nation.
Both the UAE and Egypt made the announcement on their state-run news agencies within minutes of each other.
Qatari officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The dispute between Qatar and thePersian Gulf's Arab countries started over a purported hack of Qatar's state-run news agency. It has spiraled since.
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7 a.m.
Saudi Arabia says it is cutting diplomatic ties to Qatar and it has pulled all Qatari troops from the ongoing war in Yemen.
Saudi Arabia made the announcement via its state-run Saudi Press Agency early Monday. It appeared to be timed in concert with an earlier announcement by Bahrain similarly cutting ties.
Qatar had no immediate comment.
The dispute between Qatar and thePersian Gulf's Arab countries started over a purported hack of Qatar's state-run news agency. It has spiraled since.
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6:50 a.m.
Bahrain says it is cutting diplomatic ties to Qatar amid a deepening rift between Persian Gulf Arab nations.
Bahrain's Foreign Affairs Ministry issued a statement early Monday saying it would withdraw its diplomatic mission from the Qatari capital of Doha within 48 hours and that all Qatari diplomats should leave Bahrain within the same period.
The ministry's statement said Qatari citizens needed to leave Bahrain within two weeks and that air and sea traffic between the two countries would be halted. It wasn't immediately clear how that would affect Qatar Airways, one of the region's major long-haul carriers.
Bahrain blamed Qatar's "media incitement, support for armed terrorist activities and funding linked to Iranian groups to carry out sabotage and spreading chaos in Bahrain" for its decision.
Qatar had no immediate comment.
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