The port is now being used to import building materials for the 2022 World Cup stadiums, keeping construction on track.

But Qatar is also being pushed closer to Iran - with which it shares a maritime border and its largest gas field. Qatari planes now rely on access to Iranian airspace.

"Iran is our neighbour. We have to have co-operation and communication with them," says Mr al-Thani. "We have differences with them on policies in the region but this cannot be solved by confrontation."

The US - which initially backed the Saudi-led side in this dispute - has recently been calling for Arab Gulf unity as it tries to build support for new sanctions against Iran.

There is a large US military airbase in Qatar.

Patriotic fervour

In Doha's historic market, Souq Waqif, Qataris hope for an end to the blockade which has cut them off from relatives and friends from other parts of the region.

"The Gulf states are all connected through marriages," says one man, who has a Saudi wife, now unable to visit her mother in Riyadh. "It's painful to be separated from our families."

However, there is defiance too and a renewed sense of patriotism.

Children in the market carry helium balloons with pictures of the young emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani. His face is displayed on car stickers, mugs, T-shirts and skyscrapers across the bay.

At 84, Saad Al-Jassim remembers a time long before his nation was rich. A former pearl diver, also known for his feats as a strongman, he says Qatar must stand firm.

"We are now much, much better than before. What we were going to buy from [others] we are now making it here," he says.

"It's my country, I love it and I know that it's better than the others [by a] hundred times."

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