"We certainly would encourage the parties to sit down together and address these differences. If there is any role that we can play in terms of helping them address those, we think it is important that the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) remain unified," Tillerson said in televised remarks from Sydney.

Egypt, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates on Monday decided to sever diplomatic ties with Qatar. Bahrain was the first state to make an announcement. According to the official statement published by the Bahrain News Agency, Manama's move has been motivated by Doha's persisting attempts to destabilize situation in Bahrain.

"Due to the insistence of the State of Qatar in further destabilizing security and stability in the Kingdom of Bahrain and interference in its affairs, continuing the escalation and incitement media and supporting armed terrorist activities… the Kingdom of Bahrain announces the severance of diplomatic relations with the State of Qatar," the statement read.

Qatar citizens given 14 days while Qatar diplomats given 48 hours to leave Bahrain. Also, Manama suspended air and sea communication with Doha and banned citizens of Qatar from visiting Bahrain, and prohibited its citizens from living and visiting Qatar. Minutes later, Riyadh, Cairo and Abu Dhabi made similar statements while Saudi Arabia and Egypt also suspended air and sea communication with Qatar. Abu Dhabi's state-owned Etihad Airways said it will suspend all flights to and from Doha from Tuesday morning until further notice.

Simultaneously, the Saudi-led coalition has announced the cancellation of the Qatari participation in the military operation in Yemen citing Doha's support of al-Qaeda and Daesh terror groups.

The conflict between Qatar and its neighbors occurred one week after the Arab Islamic American Summit in Riyadh, when the Qatari news agency posted a speech on behalf of the country's emir in support of building relations with Iran.

At the summit, Saudi Arabia on behalf of all the guests condemned Iran for its hostile policies and threatened with an adequate response. Later, the official representative of the Qatari Foreign Ministry said that the agency's site was hacked, and the speech on behalf of the emir was published by hackers and has nothing to do with the Qatari leader.

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