U.S. President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia’s new crown prince, discussed the ongoing diplomatic row in the Gulf region and terrorism during a telephone call Wednesday.
Trump also congratulated Prince Mohammed bin Salman on his appointment, according to a White House statement
The president and the prince are "committed to close cooperation" to advance shared goals of security, stability, and prosperity across the Middle East and beyond,” the statement said. “The two leaders discussed the priority of cutting off all support for terrorists and extremists, as well as how to resolve the ongoing dispute with Qatar.”
In a royal decree early Wednesday, King Salman bin Abdulaziz placed his son, Mohammed, 31, as first in line to the throne.
He also relieved Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, 57, from his position as the deputy prime minister and interior minister.
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Yemen severed ties with Doha on June 5, and shut their air, land and sea borders to Qatari vessels earlier this month. Qatar's neighbors accuse it of supporting terror groups -- a claim Doha denies.
Mauritania followed suit shortly afterwards, while Jordan downgraded its diplomatic relations with Doha and closed the local office of Qatar’s Al-Jazeera satellite news channel.
Qatar has denied the accusations and said the move to diplomatically isolate it was "unjustified".
That country’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani on Wednesday congratulated the new crown prince on his new role, according to state news agency QNA.
In separate cables to the king and the prince, Doha said it wished for "more progress for brotherly relations between the two brotherly countries", QNA said.