Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has already discussed the ongoing tensions with Qatar.
The State Department on Thursday said that the United States remains concerned about the ongoing dispute involving Qatar and GCC countries are at an impasse and it could possibly even intensify.
“We remain very concerned about that ongoing situation involving Qatar and GCC countries. We’ve become increasingly concerned that that dispute is at an impasse at this point. We believe that this could potentially drag on for weeks; it could drag on for months; it could possibly even intensify,” State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said in a press briefing.
“The Secretary will remain engaged. He’s been very engaged and has made himself available to all sides of this matter. We continue to stay in close contact with all of them and will continue to do so. The Kuwaitis have done yeoman’s work on trying to mediate the dispute, and we continue to thank them for their efforts in doing that. It certainly has not been – It has not been easy. We believe overall that the fight against terrorism was something – is something that will bring all these countries together eventually, because we still have that shared fight and I think all the nations recognize that,” she said.
The Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will visit Kuwait on July 10 and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has already discussed the ongoing tensions with Qatari Minister of State for Defense Affairs Khalid al-Attiyah in a phone call on Thursday.
Mattis and Attiyah discussed the security partnership between two countries and affirmed the strategic security partnership, the Pentagon said in a news release.
“The Secretary emphasized the importance of Qatar’s contributions to the D-ISIS coalition, in particular the recent contribution of C-17 cargo aircraft to the campaign to defeat ISIS. The Secretary also discussed the state of relations among the nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council and the importance of de-escalating tensions so all partners in the Gulf region can focus on next steps in meeting common goals,” according to the statement.
It was in last month, GCC countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt broke their diplomatic relations with Qatar and decided to boycott the country accusing alliance with Iran and supporting terrorism.
Qatar, however, denied all the charges and said that the action is the proof of ‘clear aggression.’