The Arab monarchies of the Persian Gulf maintained a balance – quietly hosting US forces while publicly distancing themselves from the US-Israeli war against Iran. This position is now breaking. According to a report from The Wall Street JournalBoth Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are taking concrete steps that signal a deepening and potentially irreversible involvement in the Iran war.
Saudi Arabia opens air base to US forces, crown prince considers direct military action
According to a WSJ report, citing people familiar with the decision, Saudi Arabia has authorized US forces to operate from King Fahd Air Force Base on the western side of the Arabian Peninsula.
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The move potentially contradicts Riyadh’s earlier public stance that it would not allow its facilities or its airspace to be used for operations against Iran — a stance that collapsed after Iran launched a sustained campaign of missile and drone strikes against Saudi energy infrastructure and the capital, Riyadh.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is now said to be considering the decision to join the attacks directly, with one source describing to the WSJ that his entry into the war is a matter of when, not if.
“Saudi Arabia’s patience with Iranian attacks is not unlimited,” Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan told reporters last week after a series of Iranian strikes on Gulf energy infrastructure. “Any belief that the Gulf countries are unable to respond is a miscalculation.”
Five U.S. Air Force refueling planes were also hit and damaged at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, according to U.S. officials — further evidence of the direct costs the kingdom is absorbing.
The United Arab Emirates is closing Iranian institutions in Dubai, threatening to freeze billions of assets
At the same time, the UAE began to focus on Iran’s financial presence on its territory. Dubai authorities recently shut down both an Iranian hospital and an Iranian club, with the hospital’s phone lines, WhatsApp channel and website down. Dubai Health authorities have confirmed that the facility is no longer operational.
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“Certain institutions directly linked to the Iranian regime and the IRGC will be closed as part of targeted measures after they were found to have been misused to promote agendas that do not serve the Iranian people and in violation of UAE law,” the government said, referring to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The United Arab Emirates, which has long served as a financial gateway for Iranian businesses and individuals, also warned it could freeze billions of dollars in Iranian holdings — a move analysts say could severely limit Tehran’s access to foreign currency and international trade networks at a time when Iran’s domestic economy is already collapsing under inflation and sanctions.
The UAE alone has reportedly had to withstand more than 2,000 Iranian attacks since the start of the war.
Iran claims tolling rights over the Strait of Hormuz, alarming the Persian Gulf monarchy
A particularly worrying development for the Gulf states has been Iran’s assertion that it is seeking a permanent role in managing the Strait of Hormuz after hostilities end.
In talks with Arab officials, Tehran reportedly suggested charging transit fees through the strait, drawing a direct parallel to Egypt’s Suez Canal toll system. Iran has already demonstrated its ability to disrupt the waterway by attacking transit ships while selectively allowing the passage of vessels it favors.
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The prospect of Tehran gaining long-term influence over the world’s most important oil shipping route appears to have focused minds across the Persian Gulf.
Iran attacks Qatar’s Ras Laffan hub, Kuwait and UAE in widening energy war
Pressure on Gulf officials intensified last week when Iran attacked Qatar’s Ras Laffan energy center, one of the world’s largest liquefied natural gas facilities, along with a key Saudi Arabian energy hub and Red Sea infrastructure in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. The attacks were in retaliation for Israel’s attack on Iran’s South Pars gas field.
Qatar condemned the strike as a dangerous escalation and a direct threat to its national security.
Arab states had previously lobbied Washington to prevent Israeli strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure following an earlier attack on fuel depots in Tehran. However, according to US and Israeli officials, the US received advance notice from Israel of the South Pars strike and allowed it to proceed regardless.
The decision deepened frustration among Gulf leaders, who told the newspaper they felt unable to exert meaningful influence over the Trump administration’s decisions despite significant investment in the bilateral security relationship.
Videos indicate the launch of land-based missiles against Iran from Bahrain
The gap between the public attitude of the Gulf states and the reality on the ground is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain.
Videos verified by Storyful indicate that some of the land-based missiles used in the attacks against Iran were launched from Bahrain, the WSJ reported.
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The US military declined to confirm or deny Arab involvement in the campaign, leaving it up to Gulf governments to characterize their own roles.
Gulf officials are urging Washington to destroy Iran’s military before a ceasefire
According to Arab officials, the leaders of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have lobbied the Trump administration in regular phone calls to ensure that Iran’s military capabilities are substantially degraded before any truce is agreed, the WSJ reported.
The UAE is also said to be actively resisting the prospect of a ceasefire that leaves Iran’s military structures intact.
Analysts note that the rulers of the Persian Gulf are caught between two unpleasant realities. Open military engagement against Iran carries profound risks, especially if Washington DC were to suddenly withdraw from the conflict. Yet continued Iranian attacks are eroding the deterrence the Gulf security architecture was meant to provide.
“They’re just caught in this structural bond that weaker parties always have in an alliance with a stronger party,” said Gregory Gause, an analyst of US-Gulf relations at the Middle East Institute in Washington. “If the stronger side takes a warlike stance, they fear being dragged into a war they don’t want to fight.”
