Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan left Qatar on Monday after two days in the Gulf trying to mediate in the worst row among Arab states for years but there was no sign he had made any progress.

Iran on Monday denied reports that Kuwait had expelled its ambassador, saying it would maintain a dialogue with the Gulf Arab state after a diplomatic row over Tehran's alleged links to a "spy and terror" cell.

Saudi Arabia's King Salman left for holiday abroad on Monday and appointed his son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to run the affairs of the world's top oil exporter in his absence, a royal decree said.

A researcher in Human Rights Watch said that the Gulf crisis shone a spotlight on the legal discrimination against women that predates the crisis, indicating that 480 were separated due to the crisis.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan heads to the Gulf this weekend in an attempt to patch up the rift between Qatar and its neighbors, but the firm Qatari ally may find himself with little room to maneuver as a mediator.

The United Arab Emirates, one of four Arab countries that have imposed sanctions on Qatar, said on Saturday that Doha needed to change its policies before a dialogue could take place.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Friday the United States was satisfied with Qatar's efforts to implement an agreement aimed at combating terror financing, and urged Arab states to lift a "land blockade" on the tiny Gulf nation.

A source close to Saudi Arabia's rulers has given further details of how Mohammed bin Nayef, the former crown prince, was summarily removed from his post last month.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards have detained a Saudi Arabian fishing boat and arrested its crew, an Iranian state news agency reported on Saturday, at a time of increased diplomatic tension between the two regional powers.

Qatar's ruler said Friday that the Gulf emirate is ready for talks to resolve diplomatic crisis with Saudi-led bloc so long as his country's sovereignty is respected.

Three people were killed in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, including a Bahraini national, after Saudi special forces opened fire on a vehicle on Friday (July 21, 2017).

Qatar's ruler has amended the country's anti-terrorism laws in a royal decree issued on Thursday, state news agency QNA reported, in a move that appears aimed at countering charges the Gulf Arab state supports terrorism.

Saudi King Salman on Thursday decreed the consolidation of counter-terrorism and domestic intelligence under a new body, in a major overhaul of the security apparatus weeks after the interior minister was ousted from the royal succession.

Kuwait on Thursday expelled Iranian diplomats and closed some embassy missions after the emirate's top court convicted a "terror" cell of links to Iran, the foreign ministry said.

On Tuesday June 20 Mohammed bin Nayef, a powerful figure in Saudi Arabia's security apparatus for the past two decades and the next in line to the throne, was summoned to meet King Salman bin Abdulaziz.

Qatar will not negotiate with its neighbors to resolve the Gulf dispute unless they first lift the trade and travel boycott they imposed two weeks ago, its foreign minister said, but added Doha still believed a solution was possible.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Monday that he hopes Yemen's war will not spark direct confrontation between Iran and Saudi Arabia and that they can work together to end the conflict in the country and Syria.

Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan is planning to visit Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar on July 23-24, the Turkish presidency said on Tuesday.

The US has set the stage for a fresh armed conflict ready to burst at any time in the Gulf, following the rift between Qatar and other Gulf and Arab countries.

A senior United Arab Emirates (UAE) official said international monitoring was needed in the standoff between Qatar and its Arab neighbors, adding he saw signs that the pressure exerted on Doha "was working".