page_title: Qatar diplomatic crisis
section_title: Severance of diplomatic and economic ties
hierarchical_section_title: Qatar diplomatic crisis / Severance of diplomatic and economic ties
caption_attribution_description: English: Two maps showing flightpaths of Qatar Airways flights leaving Doha, before and after the airspace embargo was imposed by Qatar's neighbours.
context_page_description: The Qatar diplomatic crisis began on 5 June 2017, when Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic relations with Qatar and banned Qatar-registered airplanes and ships from utilising their airspace and sea routes along with Saudi Arabia blocking Qatar’s only land crossing. They were later joined by Jordan and were supported by the Maldives, Mauritania, Senegal, Djibouti, the Comoros, the Tobruk-based government in Libya, and the Hadi-led Yemeni government.
  The Saudi-led coalition cited Qatar's alleged support for terrorism as the main reason for their actions, insisting that Qatar had violated a 2014 agreement with the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, of which Qatar is a member. Saudi Arabia and other countries have criticized Al Jazeera and Qatar's relations with Iran. Qatar acknowledges that it has provided assistance to some Islamist groups, but denies aiding militant groups linked to al-Qaeda or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Qatar also claims that it has assisted the United States in the War on Terror and the ongoing military intervention against ISIL.
context_section_description: Between 5 and 6 June 2017, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Yemen, Egypt, the Maldives, and Bahrain all separately announced that they were cutting diplomatic ties with Qatar; among these Bahrain was the first to announce the severing of ties at 02:50 GMT in the early morning of 5 June.
  A variety of diplomatic actions were taken. Saudi Arabia and the UAE notified ports and shipping agents not to receive Qatari vessels or ships owned by Qatari companies or individuals. Saudi Arabia closed the border with Qatar. Saudi Arabia restricted its airspace to Qatar Airways. Instead, Qatar was forced to reroute flights to Africa and Europe through Iranian airspace. Saudi Arabia's central bank advised banks not to trade with Qatari banks in Qatari riyals.
  Qatar verbally criticized the ban. The Foreign Ministry of Qatar criticized the ban, arguing that it undermined Qatar's sovereignty. The foreign minister of Qatar, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, said that Saudi statements regarding Qatar were contradictory: on the one hand, Saudi Arabia claimed Qatar was supporting Iran, on the other hand, it claimed Qatar was funding Sunni extremists fighting against Iran.
  Saudi Arabia's move was welcomed by United States president Donald Trump despite a large US presence at the Al Udeid Air Base, the primary base of US air operations against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. However, Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson and Defense Secretary James Mattis worked on de-escalating the situation. Tillerson, as the CEO of ExxonMobil, was acquainted with the current and previous emirs of Qatar. A number of countries in the region, including Turkey, Russia and Iran, called for the crisis to be resolved through peaceful negotiations.
  All GCC countries involved in the announcement ordered their citizens out of Qatar. Three Gulf states (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain) gave Qatari visitors and residents two weeks to leave their countries. The foreign ministries of Bahrain and Egypt gave Qatari diplomats 48 hours to leave their countries. Qatar was expelled from the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen and Yemen's government itself has cut ties. Kuwait and Oman remained neutral.
  Kuwaiti mediators in Riyadh were presented with a list of Saudi demands of Qatar. These included cutting off all links with Iran and expelling resident members of Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, shutting down the Al-Jazeera network, to stop "interfering" in foreign countries' affairs and to cease any funding or support for terrorist organisations.
caption: Maps showing the routes taken by Qatar Airways flights leaving Doha before and after the embargo was imposed. Data taken from FlightRadar24.
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