On June 5, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting terror and destabilizing the Middle East. Yemen, the Maldives, Mauritius, Mauritania, the Comoros and the government of the eastern division of Libya followed suit. Jordan and Djibouti declared downgraded diplomatic ties with Doha, while Senegal recalled its Qatari ambassador.
The crisis broke out soon after the Qatari news agency published a statement of the country's emir calling for establishment of relations with Tehran and expressing support for the Muslim Brotherhood terrorist organization, outlawed in many countries, including Russia. The Qatari authorities stated that their leader had not made such a statement and the agency's website was hacked. However, this explanation was not considered as convincing by several countries, including Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.