US President Donald Trump, who had initially backed the measures against Qatar in a tweet, called Sheik Tamim on Wednesday with an offer "to help the parties resolve their differences".
Speaking to Abu Dhabi's crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahayan, Trump advocated unity among Gulf Arabs "but never at the expense of eliminating funding for radical extremism or defeating terrorism".
US and European officials said that while United States government agencies and experts were convinced that the news agency and the Qatari government's Twitter feed were hacked, they have not yet determined who did the hacking.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain lead a string of countries that this week cut ties with Qatar over what they say is the emirate´s financing of extremist groups and its ties to Iran, Saudi Arabia´s regional arch-rival.
Qatar has denied the accusations and called the collective decision "unjustified".
UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash told Reuters there would be more curbs if necessary and said Qatar needed to make ironclad commitments to change what critics say is a policy on funding Islamist militants. The countries also said they would eject Qatar's diplomats.
The West African nations of Senegal and Mauritania have joined have severed their diplomatic relations with Qatar in expression of solidarity with the four Gulf countries that cut ties.
- Turkey's parliament approves two deals on Wednesday: on deploying troops in Qatar and on training the Gulf nation's gendarmarie forces.
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The dispute was also prompted in part by claims that Qatar was trying to undermine neighboring governments by giving financial support to opposition movements and using its flagship television channel Al Jazeera as a mouthpiece to attack them.
Investors say the resulting market shock due to the Qatar-Saudi crisis could create a buying opportunity for local assets.
Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies may have felt emboldened to move against Qatar by Trump's visit last month to Riyadh, which saw the president clearly align United States interests with the kingdom and lash out at Iran.
- Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on Wednesday, as the dispute between Gulf powers and Qatar escalates.
"So good to see the Saudi Arabia visit with the King and 50 countries already paying off", he added.
Qatar created and funds the news network Al Jazeera, which began broadcasting in 1996. He said normal life in Qatar is "not affected" by the blockage, insisting the tiny country maintains sufficient access to other air and sea routes to secure food for its people.
Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E., Egypt and Bahrain are among several states that this week cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, in the worst crisis to hit the Gulf in recent years. "Iran benefits from any issue or crisis between its neighbors", he said, pointing out that Doha enjoys "fine" relations with Tehran and shares a large gas field.
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