FNA- Qatar's Defense Minister Khalid bin Mohammed al-Attiyah appreciated Tehran for helping his country during the era of sanctions imposed by the Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE, on Doha and allowing the Qatari planes to use Iran's airspace.

"We thank Iran for opening its airspace for Qatari planes and supplying some food to the local market," al-Attiyah said in an interview with the Arabic website of the Russian news agency, Sputnik.

Qatar has been reeling under a blockage imposed by four Arab states since last month

Al-Attiyah conditioned the lifting of a blockage imposed on his country by four Arab states before engaging in any dialogue with its neighbors.

Qatar has been reeling under a blockage imposed by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain since last month.

The four states accuse Doha of interfering in their affairs and supporting terrorism, a claim dismissed by Qatar, which contends that the blockade was in violation of international law.

“Lifting the siege should precede any dialogue,” al-Attiyah said in an interview with Russia Today.

"If the blockade countries remain reluctant to lift the siege, Qatar will be compelled to resort to the available international legal procedures to lift it," he said.

The Qatari minister ruled out the relocation of the Al-Udeid US military base from his country.

"The US-Qatari relations are strong," he said, going on to deny that the “acceleration of the deployment of Turkish troops in Qatar was in anticipation of any military escalation against Doha."

“The Turkish and US military presence in Qatar doesn’t pose any kind of sensitivity, at all," he said.

The Qatar minister argued that the blockade states have relied in their escalation on US President Donald Trump’s Twitter postings.

"They forgot that the U.S. is a country of institutions, most of which is the Department of State, which has explicitly supported the Qatari’s position," he said.

Shortly after the four Arab states cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, Trump appeared to take credit for the move.

"So good to see the Saudi Arabia visit with the King and 50 countries already paying off. They said they would take a hard line on funding extremism, and all reference was pointing to Qatar. Perhaps this will be the beginning of the end to the horror of terrorism!" Trump wrote on his Twitter.