The United Arab Emirates, following a number of other Arab countries, broke off diplomatic relations with Qatar.
UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash urged Qatar to change its policy and not repeat the previous mistakes in order to restore relations with its neighbors.
Recall that earlier Bahrain broke diplomatic relations with Qatar, reports Reuters with reference to the state media of the kingdom. In Manama, Qatar has been accused of supporting terrorism and interfering in the internal affairs of Bahrain.
Air and maritime traffic between countries is discontinued. Bahrain also ordered its subjects to leave Qatar within 14 days.
Qatar nationals also have two weeks to leave Bahrain, and Qatari diplomats have a 48-hour period, Al Arabiya reports.
Qatar "wreaked havoc in Bahrain, in the most flagrant manner violating all agreements and principles of international law, not taking into account values, rights, morality, violating the principles of good neighborliness and commitment to permanent relations between the countries of the Persian Gulf, rejecting all previous commitments," in a statement.
In turn, it broke off diplomatic relations with Qatar and cut off transport links with it Saudi Arabia. As stated in Riyadh, this step is necessary to protect the kingdom from "terrorism and extremism." Saudi Arabia called on "all fraternal countries and companies to do the same."
Following Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, Egypt announced the severance of relations with Qatar and the cessation of communications, also accusing Doha of supporting terrorism, including the Muslim Brotherhood extremist organization.
The UAE also supported this move, stressing that Qatar is "undermining security" in the region. Qatari diplomats have 48 hours to leave the country.
According to RIA Novosti, the conflict between Qatar and its neighbors occurred a week after the summit of the Persian Gulf and the United States in Riyadh, when the Qatar news agency posted a speech on behalf of the emir in support of building relations with Iran. At the Riyadh summit, Saudi Arabia, on behalf of all the guests of the meeting, condemned Iran for its hostile policies and threatened with an adequate response. Later, the representative of the Qatar Foreign Ministry said that the agency’s website was hacked, and the speech on behalf of the emir was published by hackers and is not related to the Qatari leader.
However, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain found the refutation unconvincing and continue to insist that the words about normalizing relations with Iran really belong to the emir.
