Ilan Berman writes: Naturally, administration officials are now scrambling to mediate the Arab-Qatari tensions in an effort to get their Mideast policy back on track. But the White House may not want to be so eager to defuse the current crisis after all, if the pressure now being applied by Saudi Arabia and its partners ends up compelling Doha to take on a more consistent and constructive role in regional counterterrorism – USA Today
Kuwait is trying to mediate the crisis between Qatar and several Arab nations, according to Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber al-Sabah will meet with Saudi Arabia's King Salman today in an attempt to ease tensions.
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, followed later by Yemen’s UN-backed government, the eastern government of Libya and the Maldives, on Monday severed diplomatic relations with Qatar over allegations that the Gulf nation supports terrorism. In addition, all land, sea and aviation links were closed.
Meanwhile, Russia and Iran have also stepped up diplomatic efforts to end the row. On Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke with the Qatari foreign minister, and Russian President Vladimir Putin talked with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss the situation. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif engaged in intense telephone diplomacy, speaking on Monday with his Turkish, Kuwaiti, Malaysian, Iraqi, Omani, Algerian, Tunisian and Lebanese counterparts, as well as EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, about developments. Late on Monday, Zarif also spoke with the Qatari foreign minister.