A series of Gulf countries announced the severance of diplomatic relations with Qatar, accusing it of promoting terrorism.

Also making the decision to isolate Qatar on June 5 were six countries including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, Libya and Yemen.

Doha is accused of supporting extremist organizations to destabilize the region.

The first to speak up about breaking relations with Qatar was Bahrain.

According to Saudi Arabia’s SPA news agency, the kingdom has closed its border with Qatar, citing the need to protect national interests from `terrorism and extremism`.

The UAE side accused Qatar of `supporting, sponsoring and encouraging terrorism and extremism`, seriously affecting the regional situation.

Standing on the side of UEA and Saudi Arabia, Bahrain cited Doha as `destroying the security and stability` of its country to cut off diplomatic relations.

Egypt declared that Qatar’s policy `endangers national security, creates conflicts and divisions within the Arab region`.

Immediately after the above moves, Libya also announced to cut relations with Qatar.

Why?

Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the actions of the above countries as completely unjustified and based on baseless information.

Relations between Qatar and Gulf countries face turbulence related to Qatar’s support for the rebel group opposing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the Muslim Brotherhood and the Hamas movement.

Previously, in 2014, relations between these countries were frosty for eight months when Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE withdrew their ambassadors from Doha, accusing Qatar of supporting rebel groups.

Al-Jazeera news agency in Qatar alleges that the above conflict has skyrocketed, after hackers revealed a series of emails of Yousef al-Otaiba – UAE Ambassador to the US.

However, Saudi Arabia’s Al-Arabiya newspaper said that it was an intentional action by Qatar to increase tensions in the region.

America is in trouble

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who is on a trip to Sydney, Australia, urged Gulf countries to unite and sit at the table to resolve differences.

New tensions will put Washington in an awkward situation, because the country’s 5th Fleet is stationed in Qatar, while the UAE provides air bases for the US.

Air strikes by the Saudi Arabian Bahrain and UAE air forces with anti-terrorism missions will be very difficult to conduct when their military representatives are no longer in Qatar, where the command base of the 5th Fleet is located.

According to Thanh Hao

Vietnamnet