Iran’s retaliatory strikes on Arab Gulf states have put the region in a quagmire, as it faces the prospect of all-out war with Tehran.
The Islamic Republic has hit civilian targets and energy infrastructure in the six oil-rich states, with the apparent calculation that they could pressure the US back to negotiations.
But this strategy might backfire, analysts said, by strengthening the Gulf’s resolve to confront Iran’s “unprecedented onslaught,” The Wall Street Journal reported.
Gulf states have been on the defensive so far, pushing for diplomacy while leaving the door open to respond to Iran’s aggression, but if the regime’s strikes keep up, the UAE in particular “will undoubtedly flex its offensive capabilities,” a Gulf security expert wrote for Semafor.