Iran has targeted its neighbors in the Persian Gulf by firing missiles and conducting drone attacks, but despite the attacks, the Middle Eastern countries have not fired back and for good reason, a foreign policy expert argues.
“Never say never, but with very high certainty, I can say that the Gulf [states] are not partaking in this war,” Hussain Abdul-Hussain, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told reporters on a call Monday.
Gulf nations believe if they fire back at Iran, “they will give Iran justification to continue exchanging fire with them,” Abdul-Hussain said.
Iran has fired missiles and drones at the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Azerbaijan, Iraq, and Cyprus.
Countries like the United Arab Emirates have “never been in a situation where they have to take fire, have sirens, run to the bomb shelter,” and “they’re not sure that they’re ready to go to war,” he said.
Additionally, with both Israel and the United States carrying out hundreds of strikes on Iran, it is not clear that a few more F-16 fighter jets would make a significant difference, Abdul-Hussain said.
Just because Iran’s neighbors are unlikely to respond to its hostility with missiles and bombs does not mean that Iran’s attacks will go unpunished, according to Abdul-Hussain.
If the Iranian regime remains in place after the war ends, “Iran will face very strong isolation,” he predicted. The regime is now under the leadership of new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed on the first day of Operation Epic Fury on Feb. 28.
The “perks” Gulf nations have offered Iran, such as Dubai allowing wealthy Iranians to bank in the UAE to avoid sanctions, are likely to end.
In attacking the Gulf states, Iran may have moved those countries closer to Israel and the United States, retired Maj. Gen. Yaakov Amidror, the former national security adviser to the prime minister of Israel and former head of the National Security Council, told reporters.
If the regime remains in power in Iran, Gulf nations may conclude that “the way to deal with this aggressiveness of the Iranians … is to be closer to Israel, closer to America, and to build a defensive shield, which will help us to deal with the aggressiveness of the Iranians. I don’t know what they will decide, but that will have big, huge implications on the future of the region,” Amidror said.
Over the past nine days since the U.S. and Israel launched the joint attack on Iran, the leaders of Gulf states have discovered that “Iran is an irrational state,” Abdul-Hussain said.
“You cannot count on the rationality of a state that doesn’t know the difference between a friend and a foe or a neutral party,” he added.
Saudi Arabia has threatened Iran with retaliation should Iran continue to target Saudi Arabia. In Qatar, authorities arrested members of two alleged Iranian sleeper cells last week. There have also been reports that Qatar plans to expel Hamas leaders, who are loyal to Iran, from the nation.
The actions and threats from Gulf nations against Iran are “a reflection of a consensus that had been building for many years prior: that Iran is a shared threat to everyone, not just our common interests, but really to the citizens of all these countries,” Jacob Olidort, the director of American security at the America First Policy Institute, told The Daily Signal.
President Donald Trump says the U.S. will continue the operation until Iran surrenders, and Israel has given no indication it plans to stop its campaign against the Iranian regime.
Trump on Monday told CBS News the operation in Iran “is very complete” and is “very far ahead” of his initial estimated time frame.
Virginia Allen is a senior news producer for The Daily Signal and host of “The Daily Signal Podcast” and “Problematic Women.” Send an email to Virginia.
Reprinted with permission from The Daily Signal by Virginia Allen.
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of AMAC or AMAC Action.
This is easy. There are types of Muslim sects – Sunni and Shia. Iran is mostly Shia while the rest of the Middle East is Sunni. They only cooperate when confronting Israel otherwise they fight among themselves. As most of the trouble in the region has been caused by Iran and its associates, the rest of the Middle East would like to see Iran’s downfall. Iran has launched attacks on some of its neighbors in hope that they would side with them, but that backfired on them. The ball is in Iran’s court now – they can either continue to be hostile or sue for peace (unconditional surrender).
I am not so certain the Gulf Muslim monarchies want Iran Islamic regime completely defeated. If by chance democracy takes root in Iran, these other unelected regimes are next. That’s their fear.
They have no backbone by not firing back at Iran.
Muslim vs Muslim right
All of them but Israel, are letting America do the heavy lifting, looks to me like they are just setting back, and are going to recieve the rewards. If something should keep the Iranian’s from surrending and they do regain status, the ones that did not fire back at them can say it is all the “bad Americans fault. If this is what the others are doing, instead of joing the U. S. and Isreal, shame on them, this is the COWARD’S WAY.
Difficult culture for us to understand. As the ICU Nurse of a FST(AB) in Afghanistan many years ago I cared for wounded sect members and allies who fought with us along with our soldiers, of course. Our soldiers and allies were usually evaced out during the night. Where as the sect member had to wait for their sect to pick them up in the morning. I actually had to sit between the sects over night with my 9mm locked and loaded ready to prevent them form killing each other after surgery. If given the opportunity they would kill the guy just hours before they were fighting side by side with. There’s no peace with these folks and very little tolerance of anyone out side of their sect.
“Gulf nations believe if they fire back at Iran, ‘they will give Iran justification to continue exchanging fire with them,’ Abdul-Hussain said.” Same as saying that if we keep beating the bully’s hands with our face, sooner or later he’ll get tired.
The operation is far from complete. The Islamic radicals with never quit and must be deposed. We don’t want to be branded with regime change but we must do more before the Iranian people could hope to overthrow the Islamic murderers. Protesters are shot so what hope can they have to hit the streets?
they have not fired back because of their HATRED for ISRAEL andTHE UNITED STATES!