GCC Countries Begging Israel Not to Strike Iran's Oil Infrastructure
October 13, 2024
1:50 PM
Reading time: 4 minutes
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Oman, are reportedly very worried about the possibility of Israel striking Iran's oil infrastructure, which they fear could lead to Teheran striking the oil fields and export terminals in their own countries. Iran and it's proxies have already struck these sites as recently as 2019, when Saudi Arabia's multi-billion dollar Abqaiq–Khurais oil export and processing center was struck by precision drones, causing severe damage.
Iran's regime never admitted to being behind that attack, which shut down 5% of global crude oil supply for several weeks leading to a sharp increase in prices. But Western intelligence agencies blamed the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps for pushing their proxies in Iraq to launch the strikes. Another Iranian proxy, the Houthis in Yemen, have repeatedly targeted both Saudi Arabia and the UAE with drone strikes from the south. Despite having some of the largest military budgets in the world and being equipped with the best defense equipment from the US, Europe and Israel, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been largely helpless in the face of these attacks.
More recently, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian visited Doha to meet with GCC officials, who tried to convince him that they are not taking a side in the increasingly violent kinetic conflict between Israel and Iran.
"As part of their attempts to avoid being caught in the crossfire, Gulf states including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar are also refusing to let Israel fly over their airspace for any attack on Iran and have conveyed this to Washington, the three sources close to government circles said," Reuters said.
"The moves by the Gulf states come after a diplomatic push by non-Arab Shi'ite Iran to persuade its Sunni Gulf neighbors to use their influence with Washington amid rising concerns Israel could target Iran's oil production facilities," Reuters writes. "During meetings this week, Iran warned Saudi Arabia it could not guarantee the safety of the Gulf kingdom's oil facilities if Israel were given any assistance in carrying out an attack, a senior Iranian official and an Iranian diplomat told Reuters."
Ali Shihabi, a Saudi analyst close to the royal family, added that "The Iranians have stated: 'If the Gulf states open up their airspace to Israel, that would be an act of war'."
But Iran is also threatening to attack Saudi Arabia if it cooperates with American military moves, putting both Riyadh and Washington in a very awkward diplomatic position.