With the modern glass and steel buildings of the skyline in Doha, Qatar, serving as the backdrop, a traditional wooden fishing dhow is seen in port in February. Its foreign minister has struck a defiant tone in interviews, even after anxious residents emptied grocery stores in its capital of Doha as Saudi Arabia has blocked trucks carrying food from entering the country.
It has emerged that showing sympathy for Qatar on social media will now be regarded as cybercrime and sympathizers may face a jail term up to 15 years or at least 500,000 dirhams ($136,000) in fines.
"At this stage, we note that there are numerous uncertainties regarding Qatar's response, the extent to which these measures will be imposed, and their longevity", said S&P Global Ratings.
President Trump met Thursday at the White House with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to discuss the situation and reiterated his proposal that Tillerson help mediate the dispute among Arab governments, according to State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert.
The Gulf states have also closed transport links to Qatar, including Saudi Arabia's sole land border to the country. They were joined by Egypt and, since then, several other Arab nations.
The group said the list shows Qatar "announces fighting terrorism on one hand and finances and supports and hosts different terrorist organisations on the other hand".
Federation Internationale de Football Association faces another problem represented in its sponsorship contract with Qatar Airways, which is now facing a logistical nightmare with the closure of the air space of several influential countries.
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Asked about the policies of U.S. President Donald Trump in the Middle East, Gabriel said Germany did not support a policy of "pure confrontation" against Iran.
United States president Donald Trump, who tweeted on Tuesday about Qatar funding extremists, called Sheikh Tamim on Wednesday and offered to host leaders at the White House to resolve the crisis. Trump also credited his own meetings with the Saudis, the GCC and other Muslim leaders in Riyadh late last month with sparking the action.
Jubeir told Reuters after a separate event that he did not expect the decision to harm the USA -led fight against Islamic State, even though Qatar is home to the largest US air base in the Middle East, since strikes against the group were continuing from other air bases.
"Such a Trumpification of relations with one another is particularly risky in a region that is already rife with crises", he told the newspaper, in an apparent reference to what critics say is the increasingly divisive rhetoric seen since the election of U.S. President Donald Trump previous year.
"Our expectation is that our initial steps were very strong ... and this will jolt the system in Qatar", he said.
The comments attributed to Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani on incendiary issues such as Israel, Iran and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas were one of the reasons cited by Saudi Arabia and its allies on Monday for imposing a diplomatic and economic blockade on Qatar.
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