Gulf States Seek New Security Order with Iran Amid Faltering Trust in US

Gulf states, which have been shown to be highly vulnerable to Iranian attacks, are seeking a new security order including Iran as trust in U.S. security guarantees falters, the British daily Financial Times (FT) reported on the 21st (local time).

Major regional countries such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, and Saudi Arabia are showing moves to draw Iran into a new regional security framework based on dialogue and mutual non-aggression rather than excluding it after the war.

According to the FT, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said at an event held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York that day that the war against Iran initiated by the U.S. and Israel last February served as a "wake-up call" prompting them to seek a new regional order.

He added that Gulf countries "must act responsibly and together at the regional level and maintain good relations with Iran," noting, "We are moving in that direction, and regional partners agree with this."

In particular, he emphasized the need for a new security initiative, stating, "Without a security architecture that brings the Gulf states and Iran together and ensures that neither poses a threat to the other, the region cannot continue the way it did in the past."

At another event, Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the UAE President, also spoke along the lines that Arab countries must dialogue with Iran.

He said that negotiations between Iran and the U.S. "are not actually making progress," adding, "We need a new mindset in these discussions about what kind of region we all want."

Gargash previously emphasized in another public appearance this month that "Iran remains our neighbor, and we must find a way to restore what can be restored someday," stressing that "geographical reality leaves us no alternative other than engagement with Iran."

According to Middle Eastern diplomatic circles, Saudi Arabia has also been discussing the concept of a mutual non-aggression pact between Middle Eastern countries and Iran since the outbreak of the war.

Regarding these remarks and moves by Arab countries, the FT evaluated that regional countries, which initially tried to dissuade the U.S. from starting the war, are now accepting the reality that they must manage their post-war relations with Iran themselves as the U.S. is bogged down in the quagmire of the war.

Sanam Vakil, a research fellow at the British think tank Chatham House, said, "Gulf leaders recognize that their relationship with Iran is volatile and that they must manage their own security in the absence of a reliable U.S. anchor," adding that it is also "an opportunity" for Middle Eastern countries to determine their own security framework while Iran is weaker than it was before the war.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.