Latest news with #GulfArabStates
Al Arabiya
25-06-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
GCC FMs condemn Iran's strikes on US base in Qatar in exceptional meeting
The foreign ministers of the Gulf Arab states issued a sharp condemnation of Iran's missile strike on a US military base in Qatar, calling it a 'blatant, unacceptable, and dangerous' violation of sovereignty, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported on Wednesday. According to the statement, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) 'expressed its deep regret and strong condemnation of the missile attacks carried out by the Islamic Republic of Iran targeting a military base in the State of Qatar.' The ministers also described the attack as 'a clear violation of international law and the United Nations Charter, regardless of the pretexts and justifications,' and affirmed their 'full solidarity with the State of Qatar and its full support for the measures it takes to protect its security and stability.' Additionally, the council welcomed a ceasefire announcement by US President Donald Trump between Israel and Iran, describing it as a vital step toward de-escalation. They emphasized the importance of 'maximum restraint' and 'a serious return to negotiations leading to sustainable solutions,' SPA reported. The GCC ministers also addressed other pressing regional issues, including the ongoing Israeli military campaign in Gaza. They 'condemned the continued Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip and the killing of civilians,' and called for an end to 'the military escalation carried out by the occupying authorities,' as well as the blockade preventing humanitarian aid, according to SPA.
CNN
20-06-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Trump's Gulf Arab allies race to avoid all-out war in Iran
Fearing the repercussions of a total regime collapse in Iran, Gulf Arab states have intensified their outreach to the Trump administration and Tehran over the past week. The United Arab Emirates, a US ally that has long been opposed to an unsupervised Iran nuclear program, has been in contact with officials in Tehran and Washington to avoid further escalation, according to a top official, amid fears that instability in Iran could affect the region. 'We're following the situation very closely… our diplomacy is working hard like many other countries,' Anwar Gargash, adviser to the UAE president, said on Friday. 'Concerns have to be resolved diplomatically… there are many issues in the region (and) if we choose to tackle everything with a hammer, nothing will be left unbroken.' Israel began an unprecedented attack on Iran last week, killing its top military brass as well as several nuclear scientists and destroyed part of its nuclear program. Iran has responded with a barrage of missile strikes on Israeli cities. Gargash, who delivered a letter from US President Donald Trump to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in March calling for nuclear talks, said any military escalation to the conflict will be 'detrimental' for the whole region. 'This is setting us back. The language of conflict is overpowering the new language of de-escalation and economic prosperity for the region,' Gargash said. Across the Gulf, growing anxiety about the conflict is driving efforts to prevent further escalation. Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke with Trump and called for a de-escalation hours after Israel struck Iran on June 13. The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, also spoke to the president and called for the crisis to be resolved 'through diplomatic means.' 'We have been making all the possible communication between all the parties regionally and abroad. These talks between us have been about finding a way out of the rabbit hole when it comes to this escalation,' the Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said Tuesday. Last month, Trump was feted with grand welcomes and trillion-dollar deals when he visited three Gulf Arab nations for the first presidential visit of his second term. At the time, Trump praised the 'birth of a modern Middle East' and signaled his intent to sign a deal with Iran to prevent it from building a nuclear bomb. But after Israel struck and killed Iran's military leadership and nuclear scientists, Trump shifted his rhetoric, teasing a possible US military intervention on Iran. The president's threats have his Arab allies worried and fearing Iranian reprisal attacks against the US on their soil, where the US has a significant military presence. Major exporters of energy, the Gulf states also fear that Iran may shut the Strait of Hormuz on its southern shore, through which a third of seaborne oil passes. Gulf Arab states, long critical of Iran's nuclear ambitions and its support for proxy militias across the Middle East, have in recent years softened their stance toward Tehran, pivoting toward diplomacy and rapprochement to avoid conflict. Experts warn that a US attack on Iran could draw it into a quagmire even more challenging than the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan – a drawn-out confrontation that could last the duration of Trump's presidency and exact a heavy toll on American lives and resources at Israel's behest. 'Iran is large and could be fractured and divided along ethnic lines, (and it) has a considerable stockpile of missiles, UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles)… that essentially could fall out of central state control,' Hasan Alhasan, senior fellow for Middle East policy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Bahrain, told CNN. 'I don't think anyone wants to see Iran slide to chaos, I think there is a broader desire and preference to deal with one bad actor rather than multiple bad actors,' he said. Firas Maksad, managing director for the Middle East at Eurasia Group, told CNN that Gulf Arab states are in a comfortable position seeing Iran weakened, but would much rather prefer diplomacy to avoid instability in the region. 'If there is in fact a diplomatic breakthrough… where Iran's nuclear ambitions towards a nuclear weapon at least are capped, Iran is much weakened and stability returns, that's a very positive outcome for (Gulf states),' he said. 'I would have to say, though, that the concern is that (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu drags the region and drags President Trump into further escalation by perhaps taking out Iran's ability to export oil,' he added. 'That might then take us in a much more negative direction in terms of blowback against Gulf (oil) facilities.' Trump's announcement on Thursday of a two-week diplomatic window now offers his Gulf Arab allies breathing space to push for de-escalation, following a week of unprecedented regional clashes that left the Middle East rattled and on edge.
CNA
20-06-2025
- Politics
- CNA
IAEA Warns of Nuclear Disaster if Israel Strikes Iran's Bushehr Plant
UNITED NATIONS: The Middle East risks a nuclear catastrophe if Israel strikes Iran's southern nuclear facility in Bushehr, the head of the UN atomic watchdog warned on Friday (Jun 20). Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told the UN Security Council that while no radiation has been detected so far from Israel's week-long military campaign against Iran, the risk remains high, especially if Bushehr is targeted. 'Countries of the region have reached out directly to me over the past few hours to express their concerns, and I want to make it absolutely and completely clear — in case of an attack on the Bushehr nuclear power plant, a direct hit would result in a very high release of radioactivity,' Grossi said. The Bushehr reactor, located in southern Iran, is the Middle East's first civilian nuclear plant and contains thousands of kilograms of nuclear material. Grossi warned that a direct hit or even damage to the electrical lines powering the site could trigger a meltdown. POTENTIAL FOR REGIONAL IMPACT In a worst-case scenario, Grossi said evacuations and shelter orders would need to be issued across areas within several hundred kilometers of Bushehr, potentially affecting population centers in the Gulf Arab states. He added that civilians may also be required to take iodine and face disruptions in food supplies. The plant sits near a vital artery of the global economy, heightening the stakes of any possible fallout. Construction on Bushehr began in the 1970s under Iran's then pro-Western shah. While initially assisted by German firms, the Islamic Republic has worked with Russia to complete and maintain the facility since the 1990s. CALL FOR DIPLOMACY Grossi reiterated his appeal for diplomacy, saying the IAEA is prepared to mediate a deal and ensure Iran does not develop nuclear weapons. 'The IAEA can guarantee through a watertight inspection system that nuclear weapons will not be developed in Iran,' he said.
CNN
20-06-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Trump's Gulf Arab allies race to avoid all-out war in Iran
Fearing the repercussions of a total regime collapse in Iran, Gulf Arab states have intensified their outreach to the Trump administration and Tehran over the past week. The United Arab Emirates, a US ally that has long been opposed to an unsupervised Iran nuclear program, has been in contact with officials in Tehran and Washington to avoid further escalation, according to a top official, amid fears that instability in Iran could affect the region. 'We're following the situation very closely… our diplomacy is working hard like many other countries,' Anwar Gargash, adviser to the UAE president, said on Friday. 'Concerns have to be resolved diplomatically… there are many issues in the region (and) if we choose to tackle everything with a hammer, nothing will be left unbroken.' Israel began an unprecedented attack on Iran last week, killing its top military brass as well as several nuclear scientists and destroyed part of its nuclear program. Iran has responded with a barrage of missile strikes on Israeli cities. Gargash, who delivered a letter from US President Donald Trump to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in March calling for nuclear talks, said any military escalation to the conflict will be 'detrimental' for the whole region. 'This is setting us back. The language of conflict is overpowering the new language of de-escalation and economic prosperity for the region,' Gargash said. Across the Gulf, growing anxiety about the conflict is driving efforts to prevent further escalation. Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke with Trump and called for a de-escalation hours after Israel struck Iran on June 13. The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, also spoke to the president and called for the crisis to be resolved 'through diplomatic means.' 'We have been making all the possible communication between all the parties regionally and abroad. These talks between us have been about finding a way out of the rabbit hole when it comes to this escalation,' the Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said Tuesday. Last month, Trump was feted with grand welcomes and trillion-dollar deals when he visited three Gulf Arab nations for the first presidential visit of his second term. At the time, Trump praised the 'birth of a modern Middle East' and signaled his intent to sign a deal with Iran to prevent it from building a nuclear bomb. But after Israel struck and killed Iran's military leadership and nuclear scientists, Trump shifted his rhetoric, teasing a possible US military intervention on Iran. The president's threats have his Arab allies worried and fearing Iranian reprisal attacks against the US on their soil, where the US has a significant military presence. Major exporters of energy, the Gulf states also fear that Iran may shut the Strait of Hormuz on its southern shore, through which a third of seaborne oil passes. Gulf Arab states, long critical of Iran's nuclear ambitions and its support for proxy militias across the Middle East, have in recent years softened their stance toward Tehran, pivoting toward diplomacy and rapprochement to avoid conflict. Experts warn that a US attack on Iran could draw it into a quagmire even more challenging than the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan – a drawn-out confrontation that could last the duration of Trump's presidency and exact a heavy toll on American lives and resources at Israel's behest. 'Iran is large and could be fractured and divided along ethnic lines, (and it) has a considerable stockpile of missiles, UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles)… that essentially could fall out of central state control,' Hasan Alhasan, senior fellow for Middle East policy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Bahrain, told CNN. 'I don't think anyone wants to see Iran slide to chaos, I think there is a broader desire and preference to deal with one bad actor rather than multiple bad actors,' he said. Firas Maksad, managing director for the Middle East at Eurasia Group, told CNN that Gulf Arab states are in a comfortable position seeing Iran weakened, but would much rather prefer diplomacy to avoid instability in the region. 'If there is in fact a diplomatic breakthrough… where Iran's nuclear ambitions towards a nuclear weapon at least are capped, Iran is much weakened and stability returns, that's a very positive outcome for (Gulf states),' he said. 'I would have to say, though, that the concern is that (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu drags the region and drags President Trump into further escalation by perhaps taking out Iran's ability to export oil,' he added. 'That might then take us in a much more negative direction in terms of blowback against Gulf (oil) facilities.' Trump's announcement on Thursday of a two-week diplomatic window now offers his Gulf Arab allies breathing space to push for de-escalation, following a week of unprecedented regional clashes that left the Middle East rattled and on edge.
Zawya
02-06-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Gulf economic "integration" step towards growth - Kuwait Min.
KUWAIT -- Economic "integration" within Gulf Arab states is a major step forward towards sustainable growth, Kuwait's finance minister said on Sunday, citing the measure as a cornerstone of development plans. At a time of "grave" economic challenges, coupled with geopolitical tensions, it would behoove Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states to ratchet up their efforts in a bid to keep these difficulties at bay, Nora Al-Fassam told a gathering of the six-member bloc's financial and economic cooperation committee in Kuwait. As non-oil revenue continues to be on an upward trajectory, Al-Fassam, who doubles as state minister for economic and investment affairs, said that Gross Domestic Product in GCC member states was worth USD 2.2 trillion in 2024, while sectors ranging from tourism to energy continue to see palpable growth, she underlined. In terms of GDP value, the minister prognosticated that the economies of Gulf Arab states will be among the top 10 in the world in the coming years, while the primary objective for the committee gathering is to look into plans to bolster cooperation in the face of existential challenges, which was necessary to keep development steady, said the minister. In attendance amid the talks, the Riyadh-based bloc's secretary general Jasem Al-Bedaiwi said that the slew of accomplishments member states have amassed helped transform the region into a financial and economic hub, while steps are being taken towards the economic "integration" of GCC countries, he said. He went on to say that forging a solid rapport with international bodies and organizations was a "priority" moving forward, emphasizing that recent indicators point to the growing economic clout of Gulf Arab countries, whose stock markets rank seventh in the world in terms of market value, the bloc's chief added. On other accomplishments, he said the region's non-oil economic activity comprised 75.9 percent of total GDP last year, at a time where Gulf Arab states continue to push forward "economic diversification" plans, while the proper infrastructure is in place to accelerate a digital drive, said the official. All KUNA right are reserved © 2022. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
