Gulf states and Turkey warned Trump strikes on Iran could lead to major conflict [View all]
Source: The Guardian
Thu 15 Jan 2026 12.39 EST
Last modified on Thu 15 Jan 2026 15.11 EST
Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and Oman urged Donald Trump not to launch airstrikes against Iran in a last-minute lobbying campaign prompted by fears that an attack by Washington would lead to a major and intractable conflict across the Middle East.
The warnings of chaos from the longstanding US allies appear to have helped persuade Trump late on Wednesday to hold off for the moment on a military assault. In the case of Saudi Arabia, its reticence led it to deny the US use of its airspace to mount any attacks. Continuing discussions, the Saudi Arabian foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, conferred by phone with his counterparts from Iran, Oman and Turkey on Thursday.
Iran remains politically apart from the Gulf states, partly owing to its continued support for its weakened network of regional proxies, known as the axis of resistance, and its refusal to back a two state-solution for Palestine as well as disputes over three islands in the Gulf claimed by the United Arab Emirates, a claim backed by the Gulf Cooperation Council. But Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has also undertaken a series of visits to Arab capitals that are said to have improved relations.
Last year, for instance, he visited Bahrain, the first Iranian minister to do since 2010. He also visited Cairo four times last year in an effort to improve relations. The two sides had severed diplomatic relations in 2016. The Saudi-Iranian relationship, once the most fraught in the Middle East, has been on a recovery path for three years. Araghchi makes a point of being photographed sampling local cuisine in the Arab capitals he visits. All the Gulf states are further aware of the disruption Iran could cause to maritime traffic in the Gulf.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/15/gulf-states-and-turkey-urged-trump-not-to-launch-strikes-against-iran
= new reply since forum marked as read