US President Donald Trump is trying to convince the leadership of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to open their airspace for Qatar aviation.

The following was reported by the Wall Street Journal referring to sources from among officials of the US and Gulf countries, TASS reported.

According to them, the diplomatic crisis prevents the US from exerting full sanction pressure on Iran. The ban on the entry of Qatar's aircraft into the airspace of Arab neighbors forces this state to use Iranian airspace. This is a source of replenishment of Tehran’s finances, which Washington wants to block, the edition explains. 

The flow of money to Iran’s treasury through Qatar Airways flights is a constant irritant for us, an American source said.

According to the WSJ, Trump assumed the role of mediator in the talks and personally raised this topic during phone talks this spring with the King of Saudi Arabia, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud. 

Riyadh is still showing intransigence; Qatar wants only one thing - to open airspace to fly again, another source noted.

A diplomatic rift broke out in the region back in 2017. The emirate was isolated after Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt announced the severance of diplomatic relations with Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism and meddling in their internal affairs. Arab neighbors imposed economic sanctions and a transport blockade against Qatar, particularly by closing the airspace for Qatari aviation.

The countries put forward a list of requirements to Doha, including details such as lowering diplomatic relations with Iran, closing the Al Jazeera channel, ending military cooperation with Turkey, and liquidating the Turkish military base in Qatar. Qatar found these claims unsubstantiated and impossible.