Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt have agreed to grant Qatar a two-day extension to respond to their list of demands, the Saudi Press Agency has said.

The grace period was granted at the request of Kuwait’s Emir, who has been mediating the month-long dispute.

In early June, the four nations cut diplomatic and economic ties with Qatar for political reasons.

They are now demanding that Qatar shut Al Jazeera, close down a Turkish military base in Doha and curb ties with Iran, among other things.

Qatari officials have already rejected all the demands, but an official response was expected to be sent to Saudi Arabia today.

What happens next

It is unclear what will happen if Qatar continues to refuse to acquiesce to its neighbors’ demands.

In a joint statement about the extension, the boycotting nations said:

“The response of the four states will then be sent following the study of the Qatari government’s response and assessment of its response to the whole demands.”

Possible actions against Qatar include economic sanctions and expulsion from the GCC.

Analysts have also theorized that military action, while unlikely, is not totally out of the question.

For its part, Qatar maintains that it is a sovereign nation that should not be “bullied” by larger countries.

Thoughts?