Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt have extended the deadline for Qatar to comply with a list of demands by 48 hours.

The initial deadline to accept the list of demands expired at midnight on 2 July, with Qatar saying that it would submit a formal response in a letter delivered to Kuwait on 3 July.

Qatar has denied accusations from the Saudi-led bloc that it funds terrorism and the country’s foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani said his country had rejected the demands, but was ready to engage in dialogue under the right conditions.

Sheikh Mohamed is set to travel to Kuwait City today to deliver a letter sent from the Emir of Qatar to the Emir of Kuwait, who is the lead mediator in the Gulf row.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE have previously said that if Qatar fails to comply with the list of demands, which include the shutting down of the state-owned Aljazeera news network, it will face further sanctions.

It is unclear what kind of sanctions Qatar’s Gulf neighbours will impose if it fails to agree with the demands, but there have been reports that Saudi Arabia and the UAE could restrict commercial links with countries that continue to trade with Qatar.

The demands include that Doha:

• Shuts down state-owned satellite broadcaster Al Jazeera;
• Cuts diplomatic ties with Iran including closing down diplomatic posts in Iran, expelling any members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, and only conducting trade and commerce with Iran that complies with US sanctions;
• Immediately closes Turkey’s military base in Qatar and halts military cooperation with Turkey in Qatar;
• Ends support for terrorists;
• Hands over all individuals wanted by the four blockading countries for terrorism;
• Stops funding any extremist entities that are designated as terrorist groups by the US;
• Provide detailed information about opposition figures that Qatar has funded in other countries;
• Refuses to naturalise citizens from the four countries and expel those currently in Qatar, in order to keep Qatar from meddling in their internal affairs.