James Durso
The Arab states of the Persian Gulf have suffered major economic and security costs in the wake of the U.S./Israeli attack on Iran. Iranian missile and drone retaliation hit airports, ports, and energy infrastructure, disrupting aviation, trade, tourism, and hydrocarbon exports, and damaging the Gulf’s reputation as a stable business hub.
Attacks on shipping and energy facilities, such as the disruption at Fujairah port and the Shah gas field in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), show how quickly a U.S./Israel war on Iran can spill over onto Gulf territory. Or “What happens in Iran doesn’t stay in Iran.” UAE businessman Khalaf Ahmad al-Habtoor, a former business partner of U.S. president Donald Trump, publicly castigated Trump, “You have placed the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council [GCC] and the Arab countries at the heart of a danger they did not choose…Who gave you permission to turn our region into a battlefield?” If Habtoor represents elite thinking in the Gulf, and local sources confirm he does, Gulf countries will reduce their future exposure to the U.S. They might:
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