Posted on Tuesday, March 10, 2026<\/p>\n
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by Outside Contributor<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\t5 Comments \t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\tPrint<\/a><\/p>\n Iran has targeted its neighbors in the Persian Gulf by\u00a0firing missiles<\/a>\u00a0and conducting drone attacks, but despite the attacks, the Middle Eastern countries have not fired back and for good reason, a foreign policy expert argues.<\/p>\n \u201cNever say never, but with very high certainty, I can say that the Gulf [states] are not partaking in this war,\u201d Hussain Abdul-Hussain, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told reporters on a call Monday.<\/p>\n Gulf nations believe if they fire back at Iran, \u201cthey will give Iran justification to continue exchanging fire with them,\u201d Abdul-Hussain said.<\/p>\n Iran has fired missiles and drones at the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Azerbaijan, Iraq, and Cyprus.<\/p>\n Countries like the United Arab Emirates have \u201cnever been in a situation where they have to take fire, have sirens, run to the bomb shelter,\u201d and \u201cthey\u2019re not sure that they\u2019re ready to go to war,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Additionally, with both Israel and the United States carrying out hundreds of\u00a0strikes on Iran<\/a>, it is not clear that a few more F-16 fighter jets would make a significant difference, Abdul-Hussain said.<\/p>\n Just because Iran\u2019s neighbors are unlikely to respond to its hostility with missiles and bombs does not mean that Iran\u2019s attacks will go unpunished, according to Abdul-Hussain.<\/p>\n If the Iranian regime remains in place after the war ends, \u201cIran will face very strong isolation,\u201d he predicted. The regime is now under the leadership of new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed on the first day of Operation Epic Fury on Feb. 28.<\/p>\n The \u201cperks\u201d Gulf nations have offered Iran, such as Dubai allowing wealthy Iranians to bank in the UAE to avoid sanctions, are likely to end.<\/p>\n In attacking the Gulf states, Iran may have moved those countries closer to Israel and the United States, retired Maj. Gen. Yaakov Amidror, the former national security adviser to the prime minister of Israel and former head of the National Security Council, told reporters.<\/p>\n If the regime remains in power in Iran, Gulf nations may conclude that \u201cthe way to deal with this aggressiveness of the Iranians \u2026 is to be closer to Israel, closer to America, and to build a defensive shield, which will help us to deal with the aggressiveness of the Iranians. I don\u2019t know what they will decide, but that will have big, huge implications on the future of the region,\u201d Amidror said.<\/p>\n Over the past nine days since the U.S. and Israel launched the joint attack on Iran, the leaders of Gulf states have discovered that \u201cIran is an irrational state,\u201d Abdul-Hussain said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou cannot count on the rationality of a state that doesn\u2019t know the difference between a friend and a foe or a neutral party,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Saudi Arabia has threatened Iran with retaliation should Iran continue to target Saudi Arabia. In Qatar, authorities arrested members of two alleged Iranian sleeper cells last week. There have also been reports that Qatar plans to expel Hamas leaders, who are loyal to Iran, from the nation.<\/p>\n The actions and threats from Gulf nations against Iran are \u201ca reflection of a consensus that had been building for many years prior: that Iran is a shared threat to everyone, not just our common interests, but really to the citizens of all these countries,\u201d Jacob Olidort, the director of American security at the America First Policy Institute, told The Daily Signal.<\/p>\n President Donald Trump says the U.S. will continue the operation until\u00a0Iran surrenders<\/a>, and Israel has given no indication it plans to stop its campaign against the Iranian regime.<\/p>\n Trump on Monday told CBS News the operation in Iran \u201cis very complete\u201d and is \u201cvery far ahead\u201d of his initial estimated time frame.<\/p>\n Virginia Allen<\/a> is a senior news producer for The Daily Signal and host of \u201cThe Daily Signal Podcast\u201d and \u201cProblematic Women.\u201d\u00a0Send an email to Virginia<\/a>.<\/p>\n