US Allies in Persian Gulf Exasperated as Iran War Escalates

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(Bloomberg) — Washington’s Gulf Arab allies are increasingly frustrated as hostilities between the US and Iran intensify, jeopardizing their national security and economies.

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The Gulf states’ exasperation is underscored by their wide-ranging views on what the US should do next.

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Some officials believe President Donald Trump should escalate military operations by deploying ground troops in parts of Iran and perhaps even seizing its crucial oil export hub of Kharg Island, according to people familiar with the matter, declining to be named talking about sensitive matters.

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These officials believe Iran’s leaders won’t back down and relinquish their grip over the Strait of Hormuz unless the US takes more aggressive action, said the people. The alternative is a prolonged, even if low-level, conflict that could last months, one of the people said, deterring foreign investors and tourists from the region.

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The view of many officials is that the US needs to “escalate, to de-escalate,” said David Schenker, a US diplomat for the Middle East during Trump’s first term and now a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “Something more needs to be done, because the current dynamic will not compel Iran to make any concession, whether on the strait or on the nuclear front.”

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The White House and the State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Some countries, among them Qatar, the main conflict mediator along with Pakistan, disagree and want an immediate deescalation, said the people. That’s with the aim of preventing the fighting reaching the levels of March and early April, when the US and Israel were blitzing Iranian cities and Tehran was firing thousands of drones and missiles across the Gulf.

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It marks a shift from the weeks leading up to a interim deal between the US and Iran in mid-June, when Gulf Arab states were largely unified in urging Trump to use diplomacy and ease tensions with Tehran. That solidarity unraveled as hostilities worsened in the past two weeks, with Iran and the US blaming each other for the breakdown of the so-called memorandum of understanding they signed.

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Kuwait and Bahrain have come under heavy Iranian attack, as has Jordan. 

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Kuwait’s water and power plants have been hit by missiles and drones, and flights have been suspended frequently. Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have seen their energy tankers attacked around the Strait of Hormuz, while Iran has also fired upon Oman and Iraq.

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The war, which the wealthy Gulf Cooperation Council monarchies urged Washington not to start, has left them questioning the US’s ability to protect its allies. Some are now looking to deepen defense ties with European nations as a result, said the people, who asked not to be named discussing sensitive matters.

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Trump seems more and more frustrated with Iranian leaders, especially after three US soldiers were killed in the past week in Jordan and Iraq, with a fourth missing. Iran has refused to stop attacking ships sailing through Hormuz, despite Washington’s threats to step up airstrikes until it does.