US Gulf allies rattled — and seeing few good options — following Iran strikes

Oman’s foreign minister Badr Albusaidi — who has been mediating nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran — said Saturday he was “dismayed” by the joint operation, launched just hours after he met with Vice President JD Vance in a last-ditch effort to head off the military strikes.

“Neither the interests of the United States nor the cause of global peace are well served by this,” Albusaidi said on X. “I urge the United States not to get sucked in further. This is not your war.”

It’s unlikely U.S.-Iran technical talks scheduled to take place next week in Vienna will proceed. Turkey, the European Union and others have called for regional diplomacy to de-escalate tensions.

Turkey, a NATO member which maintains relations with both governments and shares a border with Iran, lamented the U.S.-Israel attacks and Iran’s retaliation, saying in a statement: “We call on all parties to cease the attacks immediately.”

Now facing escalating attacks from the Iranians, Gulf states have a series of difficult options.

“The GCC is in the peculiar position of becoming a primary target when it had been pushing for de-escalation and diplomacy all along,” said Firas Maksad, managing director for Middle East and North Africa at the Eurasia Group.

He said Iran hopes its targeting of Gulf states will pressure Washington to stop the attacks, though he said such an approach is unlikely to succeed.

“A more likely outcome is a collective decision by GCC states to either allow the U.S. greater operational freedom to target Iran from their territories or even to respond themselves,” he said.

The escalation scenario favors the U.S., he said. Should Iran target Gulf energy infrastructure, that would trigger even more of a response from the U.S. and its Arab allies.

Elisa Ewers, a former U.S. official who has worked for decades on the Middle East, said these countries have no choice but to place significant faith in the Trump administration, especially now that Iran has upped the cost and targeted them so directly.

“They must hope air defenses hold for as long as needed and this conflict isn’t prolonged with serious economic impacts” said Ewers, who is now at the Council on Foreign Relations.