Gulf Leaders Warn Trump's Iran Strategy Threatens Regional Economy
Gulf officials warn President Donald Trump that military actions against Iran are undermining economic diversification and empowering Iranian hardliners.
President Donald Trump is facing growing friction with Gulf allies over a Middle East strategy that balances support for nationalist leaders with a military campaign against Iran. While Trump praised the economic modernization and traditional values of Gulf leaders during a May 2025 speech in Riyadh, current American and Israeli military operations have caused alarm in Abu Dhabi, Doha, and Dubai.
Officials in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and other resource-rich nations argue that the conflict is jeopardizing their efforts to diversify economies away from oil. They point to Iranian drone strikes and Houthi missile attacks on data centers and airports as direct threats to the connectivity-based economic models they are building.
Gulf leaders maintain that regional stability requires an Iran integrated into global trade to secure shipping lanes. They contend that the current U.S. approach has instead strengthened the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and other Iranian hardliners, who are described as fanatical actors with little to lose from a prolonged conflict.
