German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel expressed alarm about the sudden escalation of tensions in the Gulf after Saudi Arabia and other states abruptly broke off ties with Qatar, warning of the dangers of "Trumpification" of relations in the region.

U.S. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson told a Senate committee she was not concerned about the U.S. air base in Qatar despite Saudi Arabia's decision to sever diplomatic ties with Qatar.

Attackers raided Iran’s parliament and opened fire at the Mausoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini a few kilometers south of the capital on Wednesday morning, in near simultaneous assaults that killed up to seven people, media reported.

The United Arab Emirates has banned people from publishing expressions of sympathy toward Qatar and will punish offenders with a jail term of up to 15 years, the UAE-based newspaper Gulf News and pan-Arab channel Al-Arabiya reported on Wednesday.

An official at Iran Airports Company said that all flights performed by Qatari airlines will cross the Iranian airspace to travel to Africa and Europe.

The United States will quietly try to calm the waters between Saudi Arabia and Qatar, current and former U.S. officials said on Monday, arguing that the small Gulf state was too important to U.S. military and diplomatic interests to be isolated.

Kuwait's ruler will travel to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for talks with King Salman over a Gulf Arab dispute with Qatar, Gulf Arab officials said.

France said on Tuesday it wanted a diplomatic row between Arab states and Qatar to be resolved through dialogue, its foreign ministry said.

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) is in talks to bring back Pakistani passengers of Qatar Airlines stranded in Doha after Saudi Arabia and four other Arab countries cut off ties with Qatar, an official said on Tuesday.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday leaders he met on a Middle East trip had warned him that Qatar was funding "radical ideology" after he had demanded they take action to stop financing militant groups.

The U.S. State Department has approved the potential sale of more than $1.4 billion worth of military training and equipment for Saudi Arabia, the Pentagon said on Monday, part of a $110 billion arms deal U.S. President Donald Trump sealed with the kingdom in May.

Shoppers in Doha were taking no chances on Monday despite Qatari officials reassuring residents there was no need to panic after Saudi Arabia imposed a de facto food blockade.

The Qatari riyal fell against the U.S. dollar in the spot and forwards markets early on Tuesday because of concern about the long-term economic impact on Qatar after Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates severed ties with it.

Qatar's currency came under pressure on Tuesday as Gulf Arab commercial banks started holding off on business with Qatari banks because of a diplomatic rift in the region.

Qatar's foreign minister said on Tuesday Doha was ready for mediation efforts after the Arab world's biggest powers severed ties with it, adding that Qatar's ruler had delayed a speech in order to give Kuwait a chance to ease regional tensions.

Oil prices fell nearly 1 percent on Monday on concerns that the cutting of ties with Qatar by top crude exporter Saudi Arabia and other Arab states could hamper a global deal to reduce oil production.

The Arab world's strongest powers cut ties with Qatar on Monday over alleged support for Islamists and Iran, re-opening a festering wound just two weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump's demand for Muslim states to fight terrorism.

A senior Iranian official said on Monday the decision by some Gulf Arab states and Egypt to sever diplomatic ties with Qatar would not help end the crisis in the Middle East.

Air travel across the Gulf region and beyond faces major disruption following the move by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain to sever ties with Qatar, accusing the tiny oil rich state of supporting terrorism.

Egypt will begin its ban on flights to and from Qatar on Tuesday at 6 am local time (0400 GMT), the Civil Aviation Ministry said on Monday following a severing of diplomatic ties announced earlier.