Foreign Ministry Renews Call for End to Arab Crisis

Foreign Ministry spokesman reiterated Iran's call on all sides involved in a political crisis between its southern Arab neighbors to show restraint and solve their differences through dialogue.

Bahram Qasemi made the statement at a regular press briefing on Monday, referring to a Saudi-led push to isolate Qatar over its ties with Iran, backing Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas and alleged support for terrorism, IRNA reported.

"Considering the [volatile] conditions of the region and ongoing challenges, we believe that these countries should take a positive course [of action] and solve their problems at the negotiating table, and work for calm and stability in the region."  

On June 5, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE and Bahrain cut ties with Qatar and suspended all land, air and sea traffic with the tiny Arab emirate.

They were later joined by some governments dependent on Saudi financial aid, including Libya, the Maldives, Mauritius and Mauritania.

The Arab dispute started late last month, after remarks attributed to the Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on Iran's helpful role in the region sparked a diplomatic outburst  by Saudi rulers and their allies, even though Doha said its state media, which published the statements, had been hacked.

***Roots in Riyadh Summit

A few days before that, visiting US President Donald Trump urged Arab Muslim leaders attending a Saudi-organized summit in Riyadh to create a regional military alliance to counter what he claimed is "Iran's influence", vilifying the country as the world's "top sponsor of terrorism".

Qasemi said the dispute has roots in the Riyadh summit, saying the "untimely" and "wrongly arranged" conference had had "unpleasant consequences" for the region.

Iran's top diplomat Mohammad Javad Zarif has sought to play a positive role following the unprecedented crisis.

He Zarif made phone calls to about a dozen counterparts last week and went to Turkey, which has sided with Qatar in the dispute.

Qatar has a history of diplomatic disputes with its Persian Gulf Arab neighbors.

In 2014, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain temporarily recalled their ambassadors from Doha over what they said was Qatar's support for the Muslim Brotherhood.