{"id":114021,"date":"2026-05-14T18:25:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T18:25:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/114021\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T18:25:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T18:25:12","slug":"how-will-role-of-gulf-states-in-iran-war-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/114021\/","title":{"rendered":"How will role of Gulf states in Iran war change?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Gulf states were victims of Iranian attacks during the war that began with US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran on February 28. Iran lashed out, attacking a dozen countries in the region.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s major target was the United Arab Emirates, but it also attacked Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Israel, Oman, Qatar<\/a>, the autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq<\/a>, Kuwait, Jordan, and other countries.<\/p>\n

In addition, Iran targeted US bases and made it clear that it can strike wherever it wants.<\/p>\n

During the conflict, the Gulf states created the impression that they were taking blows without responding. They were able to increase the effectiveness of their air-defense systems. The feeling was that they wanted to stay out of the war, even though they had a right to respond.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s narrative was that some of the Gulf states hosted US forces, or in the case of the UAE and Bahrain, had signed the Abraham Accords with Israel. Therefore, Iran could target them at will.<\/p>\n

\"PeoplePeople gather as smoke rises at the Industrial Area after reported Iranian missile attacks, following United States and Israel strikes on Iran, in Doha, Qatar, March 1, 2026 (credit: REUTERS\/MOHAMMED SALEM)<\/p>\n

Some perceptions of the Gulf\u2019s role have now changed. Some Gulf states have taken a more proactive role to both defend themselves and also to build up their strength, according to media reports this week.<\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia struck militias in Iraq<\/p>\n

\u201cSaudi fighter jets bombed targets linked to powerful Tehran-backed Shi\u2019ite militias in Iraq during the Iran war, while retaliatory strikes were also launched from Kuwait into Iraq, multiple sources familiar with the matter said,\u201d Reuters reported.<\/p>\n

This was part of a broader series of responses across the Gulf, the report said.<\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia struck Iran<\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia also struck Iran, according to another report that cited Western officials.<\/p>\n

\u201cSaudi Arabia launched numerous, unpublicized strikes on Iran in retaliation for attacks carried out in the kingdom during the Middle East war, two Western officials briefed on the matter, and two Iranian officials said,\u201d Reuters reported.<\/p>\n

This was said to be the first time that Riyadh has carried out direct action against Iran. In September 2019, Iran attacked Abqaiq, a city in Saudi Arabia. That means Riyadh has had the right to respond for years.<\/p>\n

UAE struck Iran and received Iron Dome<\/p>\n

The United Arab Emirates struck several Iranian sites in April, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. According to the France 24 news channel, this included \u201can oil refinery on Lavan Island in the Persian Gulf.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs Tehran unleashed its drones and missiles against the Emirates, Israel sent Iron Dome anti-air missile batteries to the UAE, as well as personnel trained to use them, to help the country stave off further attacks,\u201d France 24 reported.<\/p>\n

The report cited analysts who explained why the UAE and Saudi Arabia had retaliated.<\/p>\n

Sending the Iron Dome system to the UAE was an example of the positive relationship created by the Abraham Accords, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, the Prime Minister\u2019s Office said: \u201cIn the midst of Operation Roaring Lion, Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu secretly visited the United Arab Emirates<\/a>, where he met with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed. This visit has led to a historic breakthrough in relations between Israel and the UAE.\u201d<\/p>\n

The UAE pushed back about this statement and appeared to deny the visit took place as described. The importance of the Israeli claim, however, is that it somewhat indicates UAE-Israel ties have improved during the war.<\/p>\n

Kuwait confronts Iran in Gulf<\/p>\n

Iran had tried to attack a Kuwaiti island in the Gulf, Kuwait said Tuesday. Several Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps members were said to have been detained for involvement in the incident.<\/p>\n

\u201cGeneral Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) strongly condemned the hostile infiltration of Kuwait\u2019s Bubiyan Island by armed elements of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and their clash with the Kuwaiti Armed Forces, which resulted in the injury of a member of the Kuwaiti Armed Forces,\u201d Saudi Arabia\u2019s official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.<\/p>\n

The Associated Press reported: \u201cKuwait said on Tuesday that Iran launched a failed attack earlier this month on an island where China is helping build a port in the Gulf Arab country. The accusation came just hours before US President Donald Trump was to depart for Beijing on a high-stakes visit over the Iran war and other issues.\u201d
Kuwait was also said to have struck militias in Iraq.<\/p>\n

Crackdown on IRGC and Hezbollah in the Gulf<\/p>\n

As Gulf countries weighed military responses, they have also detained people linked to Iranian activity. This has included a number of cells busted in Bahrain<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the UAE cabinet added 16 individuals and five Lebanon-based companies to its local terrorist list over links with Hezbollah, the UAE\u2019s official news channel, WAM, reported.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe move forms part of the UAE\u2019s ongoing efforts, both domestically and internationally, to disrupt and dismantle networks linked to the financing of terrorism and related activities, whether direct or indirect,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n

The Bahraini Interior Ministry said an organization linked to the IRGC and the Wilayat Al-Faqih Shi\u2019ite political ideology consisted of members of the dissolved \u201cIslamic Scholars Council,\u201d London-based newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe members of the organization had formed and led a terrorist organization, financed terrorism, coordinated with Iran and groups in Iraq and Lebanon classified as terrorist organizations, and received military training in support of those activities, said the ministry in a statement carried by Bahrain\u2019s state news agency BNA,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Gulf states were victims of Iranian attacks during the war that began with US and Israeli airstrikes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":114022,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[714,34,654,35,212,92,39,271,39421,709],"class_list":{"0":"post-114021","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-persian-gulf","8":"tag-gulf-states","9":"tag-iran","10":"tag-jordan","11":"tag-kuwait","12":"tag-operation-epic-fury","13":"tag-operation-roaring-lion","14":"tag-persian-gulf","15":"tag-qatar","16":"tag-susan-korda","17":"tag-uae"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116574337360556164","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114021"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114021\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/114022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}