06 June, 2017
Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries severed ties to Qatar on Monday and moved to cut off land, sea and air routes to the energy-rich nation that is home to a major US military base, accusing it of supporting regional terror groups.
The semi-official Fars news agency quoted Reza Nourani, chairman of the union of exporters of agricultural products, as saying today that food shipments sent from Iran can reach Qatar in 12 hours.
Saudi Arabia closed its land border with Qatar, through which the tiny Gulf nation and global travel hub imports most of its food, sparking a run on supermarkets. Al-Jazeera reported that trucks carrying food for Qatar are now lining up across the border, unable to enter the country.
Saudi Arabia also said Qatari troops would be pulled from the ongoing war in Yemen.
The world's no. 1 container shipping line Maersk said on Monday it was still open for business to and from Qatar, adding that it was following developments closely. "The retail and construction sectors, both heavily dependent on imports via Saudi Arabia and the UAE, will take an immediate hit with the borders closing and air connections coming to a halt", said K.V. Thomas, Managing Director of Thomsun Group of Dubai. "Our president, who is also the term president of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), has actively involved in the process for the resolution of the problem by holding bilateral phone calls with a number of heads of states, some Islam and some Western countries", Kurtulmuş said speaking after a cabinet meeting in the capital, noting Ankara's effort to find a solution by opening up all diplomatic channels with Doha.
"We saw the United States president visit Saudi Arabia and he spoke first and foremost about a coalition against terror", he said in reference to Donald Trump's trip last month.
Rift between Qatar and four countries - UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Bahrain - could have financial implications as well with reports in the local media indicating that the UAE central bank is weighing financial implications of diplomatic rift.
The escalation of tensions had pushed up oil prices earlier on Monday, but they have since more than reversed those gains.
Several Airlines have chose to suspend flights to and from Qatar.
Qatar reacted with fury, denying any support for extremists and accusing its Gulf neighbours of seeking to put the country under "guardianship".
In a brief statement sent to AFP, football's governing body FIFA said it was "in regular contact" with Qatar 2022 organizers and had "no further comments for the time being".
Qatar's backing of Islamists dates to a decision by the current ruling emir's father to end a tradition of automatic deference to Saudi Arabia, the dominant Gulf Arab power, and forge the widest possible array of allies.
