US officials have criticized Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain over the ongoing isolation of Qatar, saying they are “mystified” that no evidence has been released to support their grievances.

In a statement yesterday, a spokesperson for the State Department said that as more “time goes by, the more doubt is raised about the actions taken by Saudi Arabia and the UAE.”

.@statedeptspox Nauert provides a readout of Secretary Tillerson's engagement on #Qatar, regional situation pic.twitter.com/vo2FJ86BZg

— Department of State (@StateDept) June 20, 2017

She continued:

“At this point, we are left with one simple question. Were the actions really about their concerns regarding Qatar’s alleged support for terrorism, or were they about the long-simmering grievances between and among the GCC countries?”

The remarks come as Qatari officials have stepped up their criticism of the US for not working harder to smooth over the Gulf crisis with its allies.

US President Donald Trump has previously expressed support for the boycott on the grounds that Qatar supports terrorism.

But the Pentagon and State Department have since thanked Doha for hosting the largest US air base in the region and its help in fighting ISIS.

Hacking

The recent blockade of Qatar by its neighbors appears to have been touched off by the hacking of QNA in May.

At the time, remarks offensive to some Gulf countries were published and falsely attributed to the Emir.

Qatari officially promptly dismissed what was posted as fake news, but many in the GCC didn’t appear to be convinced.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, Qatar’s attorney general announced that some of the boycotting countries may have been involved in the online attack.

“Qatar has evidence that certain iPhones originating from countries laying siege to Qatar were used in the hack,” said Ali Bin Fetais al-Marri.

However, he declined to name the nations.

Thoughts?