On June 5, 2017, a number of countries severed diplomatic ties with Qatar accusing it of fomenting regional unrest, supporting terrorism and rapprochement with Iran. The action generally followed Qatar’s bettering of relations with Iran and leniency towards funding terrorism, but specifically after the leaked publication of a speech expressing sympathy with Iran and Israel, among others, by Qatar’s emir. Initial proponents of the diplomatic action and its key actors include Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain. The list of countries that cut or downgraded their ties with Qatar following the initial action also includes the Maldives, Yemen and Comoros, among others. In addition to pulling diplomats, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain imposed air and land blockades on Qatar, ordered its nationals to leave their territories within two weeks and banned their own citizens from traveling to Qatar. Immediately following economic and movement restrictions on the emirate, Qatari imports were notably hampered and the operations of Qatar Airways were negatively affected. Turkey and Iran, supporters of political Islam, supplanted Saudi Arabia and the UAE as Qatar’s main trade partners following the crisis, declining to stop trade relations with the emirate. Ultimately, the diplomatic action taken to sanction Qatar is unprecedented in scope. While ill will between Qatar and its nearby Gulf Cooperation Council counterparts is old news, a stringent trade embargo had never before been executed and sent shockwaves throughout the region.

The dispute also came as a new strain to the GCC, whose members are on both sides of the diplomatic row. The GCC was established in 1980 to coordinate economic and political cooperation in the region. In this political event, Kuwait and Oman have remained neutral and have sought to mediate between their partner states in the affair. However, this is just the last in a series of escalations around Qatar. In 2014, ambassadors to Qatar were recalled by the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain for eight months following a dispute over Al Jazeera, the Qatar-based media outlet, and its coverage of other states’ internal affairs. It was not until the Riyadh Agreement of 2014 was reached that the dispute was settled. The accord provided that Qatar pledge to prevent the Muslim Brotherhood from operating on its territory and reduce Al Jazeera’s sympathetic tones toward Islamists, topics present again in the recent dispute.

After the initial dust settled, on June 23 Kuwait handed Qatar a list of 13 demands from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain. They demanded, among other things, that Qatar halt its diplomatic ties with Iran and only maintain cooperation permitted by U.S. and international sanctions, cut all ties with terrorist organizations, including the Muslim Brotherhood, shut down Al Jazeera and other Qatar affiliated media outlets and end interference with the internal affairs of its neighbors. The military presence of Turkey in Qatar, initiated in 2014 and augmented in the course of the dispute, was also to be halted immediately. Ten days were given for Qatar to accept the ultimatum. Qatar rejected the proposal.

Following the lack of accord, the leading four sanctioning countries issued a list of six principles fundamental to future relationships with Qatar. The list included a commitment to combat extremism and terrorism in all forms, outlawing acts and expressions which promote violence and hatred, refraining from interfering with each other’s internal affairs and adherence to the Riyadh Agreement and resolutions of the Arab Islamic American Summit.

As the economic and diplomatic embargo continues, Qatar denies all claims against it and has refrained from counter sanctioning the UAE . Though the country refused to accept the ultimatum, Qatar’s anti-terrorism laws were amended on July 22, adding a national terrorism list and rules for suspending financial support for terrorist networks. It has, however, requested the United Nations’ International Civil Aviation Organization to verify the legitimacy of the airspace blockade and relaxed its visa policy for citizens of 80 countries. On Aug. 24, Qatar announced its decision to reinstate its ambassador to Iran after he was recalled in early 2016, defying its neighbors’ demands.

From the UAE’s point of view, a conciliatory change in Qatar’s policies is the sine qua non of further cooperation between the states in the region. The main objections against Qatar voiced by the UAE include its alleged actions threatening security and stability in the Gulf, protection and support extended to individuals deemed as Islamist radicals and failure to comply with prior agreements among the GCC members. In this regard, the UAE declared its full support for the stance taken by Saudi Arabia.

Apart from the aforementioned political and economic boycott, expulsion of Qatari citizens from the country, with the exception of spouses living in the UAE, and prohibiting its citizens from staying in Qatar, the UAE outlawed all forms of criticism of its policies toward Qatar. Expressions of sympathy toward Qatar are to be penalized by up to 15 years of imprisonment or a penalty of at least 500,000 AED. Al Jazeera and affiliated websites are blocked in UAE territory. Following the Qatari emir’s expression of willingness to seek diplomatic solutions to the rift instead of accepting the ultimatum, the UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Anwar Gargash, indicated that in the absence of Qatar’s effort to comply, the four countries are prepared to continue isolating Qatar without escalating the conflict.

The United States, despite a precipitous series of comments that appeared on President Trump’s Twitter account welcoming the embargo, has taken a neutral stance. Along with Kuwait, it has assumed a mediatory role and reached an agreement with Qatar in which the emirate agreed to cooperate on cutting funding for terrorists. Qatar remains a host to the biggest U.S. American military base in the region, accommodating air force facilities and 11,000 troops. Along with other GCC States, Qatar is one of the U.S. partners in the Middle East region. At the end of August, the U.S. diplomatic delegation present in the region for talks about renewal of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process was to meet with leaders of all four countries in the frontline of the diplomatic rift in the Gulf.