Qatar Dismisses Arab Demands as Diplomatic Spat Drags On

Conditions issued to Doha included closing state broadcaster Al Jazeera, scaling back ties with Iran.

The stalemate between Qatar and its Arab neighbors showed no signs of easing Saturday after Doha described the demands it received as unrealistic, despite calls for a diplomatic solution by a top Emirati official.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain on Friday issued a list of strict conditions Qatar would have to meet to help restore severed diplomatic and trade links—and end the Gulf region’s biggest political crisis in decades.

The demands included shutting state broadcaster Al Jazeera, scaling back ties with Iran and ending Turkey’s military presence on its soil. The four countries accuse Qatar of supporting extremist groups across the region and meddling in their affairs. But Doha has rejected those allegations and dismissed the conditions for not meeting a criteria set forth by U.S. and U.K. officials for “reasonable and realistic” measures.

“This list of demands confirms what Qatar has said from the beginning—the illegal blockade has nothing to do with combating terrorism,” said Sheikh Saif Al-Thani, the director of Qatar’s government communications body. “It is about limiting Qatar’s sovereignty, and outsourcing our foreign policy.”

Qatar was given 10 days to comply with the conditions, but the Arab states didn’t say what would happen if it didn’t.

An Emirati official played down the prospects of a dramatic escalation in tensions in case Doha didn’t meet the demands, saying the countries were committed to resolving the spat through dialogue.

“There’s nothing about regime change, this is about behavioral change,” U.A.E. Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash told reporters on Saturday. “The message remains the same: The way forward is diplomacy.”

Mr. Gargash warned, however, that Qatar would remain isolated and could be expelled from the Gulf Cooperation Council, the political and economic bloc that comprises six Persian Gulf states.

More From The Wall Street Journal (subscription required):