Qatar news LIVE: Saudi Arabia gives list of demands to Doha – Gulf crisis latest

4.48pm: Iran has shipped a staggering 1,100 tonnes of fruit and vegetables to Qatar on a daily basis, after Qatar’s neighbouring gulf counties cut relations with Doha.

Iran began sending food shortly after the Gulf crisis erupted, leaving the small nation without any land transport links for its food imports.

Fars news agency reports that Iran is planning to further ship 90 tonnes of beef to its ally.

3.15pm: Turkey has sent a first shipment of food supplies to Qatar, along with a small contingent of soldiers and armoured vehicles.

Turkey has backed Qatar in the ongoing Gulf crisis and has already sent 105 cargo planes to help the isolated nation.

Ankara also fast-tracked legislation to allow more troops to be deployed to a military base in Qatar.

Five armoured vehicles and 23 military personnel arrived in Doha this morning as part of the new deployment plans, Turkey’s armed forces said in a statement.

Some 88 Turkish soldiers were already in Qatar, according to the Hurriyet newspaper, with the number expected to rise to as much as 1,000.

2.00pm: The US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has announced that the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), of which Saudi Arabia is a leading member, has given Doha a list of demands.

“In regards to the continuing dispute within the (Gulf Cooperation Council), we understand a list of demands has been prepared and coordinated by the Saudis, Emiratis, Egyptians, and Bahrainis,” Mr Tillerson said in a statement. 

“We hope the list of demands will soon be presented to Qatar and will be reasonable and actionable.

Mr Tillerson added that the US “supports the Kuwaiti mediation effort and looks forward to this matter moving toward a resolution”.

On Tuesday a State Department spokesperson said that the US was “mystified” by Saudi Arabia’s failure to justify the ongoing Qatar blockade.

Heather Nauert said: “Now that it’s been over two weeks since the embargo started, we are mystified that the Gulf States have not released to the public, nor to the Qataris, the details about the claims that they are making toward Qatar.

“The more time goes by, the more doubt is raised about the actions taken by Saudi Arabia and the (United Arab Emirates).”

“At this point we are left with one simple question: Were the actions really about their concerns regarding Qatar’s alleged support for terrorism, or were they about the long-simmering grievances between and among the GCC countries?”

This conflicted with an earlier statement from President Donald Trump, given shortly after the embargo was announced.

Mr Trump said during a White House press conference on June 9: “We had a decision to make. 

“Do we take the easy road or do we finally take a hard but necessary action? We have to stop the funding of terrorism.”

Mr Tillerson has played down reports of a divide in Washington and last week said: “There is no gap between the President and myself or the State Department on policy.”

12.00pm: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan spoke by telephone with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and its new crown prince and they agreed to increase efforts to end tension related to Qatar, sources from President Erdogan’s office said on Thursday.

Turkey has offered strong support to Qatar after Saudi Arabia, Egypt and several other states proclaimed it a supporter of terrorism and cut off all economic and diplomatic ties.

President Erdogan spoke with the Saudi leaders yesterday evening and both sides stressed their determination to strengthen Turkish-Saudi ties, while President Erdogan also congratulated Mohammed bin Salman on his promotion to crown prince, the sources said.

“Agreement was reached on increasing efforts towards ending tension in the region related to Qatar,” the sources said in a statement.

Gulf crisis explained

Saudia Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE and Egypt announced on June 5 that they were severing diplomatic relations with Qatar.

The Gulf nations accused Qatar of funding terrorism and of meddling in internal affairs within the GCC. 

Doha has denied the charges, insisting: “We do not, have not and will not support terrorist groups.”

Bahrain and Egypt both demanded that Qatari embassies in their countries closed within 48 hours, and recalled their own diplomats.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia gave Qatari citizens two weeks to depart, and ordered their citizens in Qatar to return home.

All four nations have now closed land, air and sea borders with Qatar.

Mr Trump escalated the row and suggested that the embargo was his idea.

On June 9 he said that “the time had come to call on Qatar to end its funding … and its extremist ideology”.

Neighbouring nations such as Turkey have stepped in to provide food and goods for Qatar, which relies heavily on imports.

A number of other nations have also cut ties with Doha.

The full list is: Bahrain, UAE, Saudia Arabia, Egypt, Yemen, Eastern government of Libya, Maldives, Mauritania and Senegal. Jordan and Djibouti have downgraded relations.