Qatar faces food shortages as diplomatic crisis with neighbors continues

Residents of Qatar have been flocking to supermarkets to stock up on supplies, worrying that cutting of diplomatic ties and transport links with their country by major Gulf states' will lead to a shortage of food and water.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Mauritius and Maldives have severed their relations with Qatar, accusing it of supporting terrorism and destabilizing the region.

Despite Doha protesting that the claims are "unjustified" and "baseless," Saudi Arabia has shut all land, sea and air links with the country, and the UAE has closed its airports and harbors to Qatari flights and shipping.

Qatar relies heavily on imported food. According to the World Bank, the desert state imported 1 billion US dollars’ worth of food in 2015, with a third of that coming from Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

The threat of this supply line being cut has created panic among the public in Qatar. Pictures of crowded markets and empty shelves are everywhere on social media.

Fars, a semi-official Iranian news agency, said Iran is prepared to ship food to Qatar through its three ports in the south of the country. Fars quoted the head of an Iranian agricultural exports union as saying that food shipments from Iran could reach Qatar within 12 hours.

Although the Qatari Foreign Ministry has said the severing of ties would "not affect normal lives of citizens and residents", analysts anticipate long-term impacts, including a rise in food prices, and a fall in economic growth, especially in the construction sector. It may even threaten the viability of the FIFA World Cup, which Qatar is scheduled to host in 2022, said Farouk Soussa, the Chief Economist for the Middle East at US lender Citi.

(CGTN)