Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said Monday that a diplomatic split between Qatar and four other Arab nations won't affect the war against the Islamic State and other U.S. operations.

Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain on Monday cut ties with Qatar over its support of militant groups aligned with Iran, sparking a major diplomatic crisis in the Middle East as the nations began pulling out diplomatic staffs. Airlines also suspended flights into and out of Doha, the capital of Qatar. And Saudi Arabia closed its land border, cutting off much of the food imports into Qatar and leading to a run on supermarkets there. 

Qatar is home to Al Udeid Air Base, which is home to the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing and a critical facility in the campaign against ISIS, Operation Inherent Resolve. Among the more than 100 aircraft operating out of Al Udeid are B-52 Stratofortresses, C-130 Hercules, KC-135 Stratotanker refueling aircraft and E-8 JSTARS, or Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System, and RC-135 Rivet Joint reconnaissance aircraft. There are roughly 10,000 personnel assigned to Al Udeid.

At a breakfast in Washington, Wilson stressed that the rift between Qatar and other nations has not affected what the Air Force and other coalition forces do.

"It hasn't changed our operations at all at Al Udeid and, obviously, it's more of a diplomatic issue at the moment," Wilson said, and pointed to comments made by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

Tillerson also said at a news conference in Australia that he doubted the move would jeopardize anti-ISIS operations.

"I think what we're witnessing is a growing list of irritants in the region that have been been there for some time, and obviously they have now bubbled up to a level that countries decided they needed to take action in an effort to have those differences addressed," Tillerson said.

On Monday afternoon, a Pentagon spokesman said U.S. military aircraft continue to conduct missions in support of ongoing operations in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.

"The United States and the coalition are grateful to the Qataris for their longstanding support of our presence and their enduring commitment to regional security," Marine Maj. Adrian Rankine-Galloway said in a statement. "We have no plans to change our posture in Qatar. We encourage all our partners in the region to reduce tensions and work towards common solutions that enable regional security."

Staff writer Joe Gould and the Associated Press contributed to this story.

Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations.

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