🇦🇪🇮🇱🇺🇸❌🇮🇷 — BREAKING: The UAE carried out dozens of airstrikes against Iran during the war, including strikes after the ceasefire announcement, in a deeper role than previously known alongside the U.S. and Israel, according to WSJ.

The strikes were coordinated with U.S. and Israeli intelligence support and targeted sites including Qeshm Island, Abu Musa, Bandar Abbas, energy facilities on Lavan Island, and the Asaluyeh Petrochemical Complex.

Some attacks targeted Iranian energy infrastructure in retaliation for Iranian strikes on Emirati oil and gas facilities.

The strike on the Asaluyeh Petrochemical Complex, carried out with Israel, triggered international criticism and prompted Washington to ask Israel to stop targeting Iranian energy sites.

The operations also exposed divisions among Gulf states: Saudi Arabia urged the U.S. to pressure the UAE to halt the attacks, warning they risked wider retaliation against regional energy infrastructure and global oil markets.

UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan became frustrated with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman earlier in the war for refusing to join coordinated military action against Iran.

🚨Gulf power shift looms—defying Trump’s vision and leaving Netanyahu’s Greater Israel in tatters

📌 There is no unity among the Gulf monarchies, and ongoing power dynamics suggest a broader transformation of the regional order.

Saudi-UAE rivalry

🇾🇪⚔️ Yemeni civil war

➡️ Saudi Arabia and the UAE formed a coalition against Ansar Allah in 2015, but the UAE scaled back its role in 2019

➡️ Riyadh supports the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council, while the UAE backs the rival Southern Transitional Council

➡️ The UAE has sought greater influence along the Red Sea coast, clashing with Saudi security priorities

🇸🇩⚔️ Sudanese civil war

➡️ Saudi Arabia supports the Sudanese Armed Forces, while the UAE backs the Rapid Support Forces

➡️ The UAE is expanding its footprint in the Horn of Africa, including Somaliland and Ethiopia

➡️ Saudi Arabia has coordinated more closely with Turkey on Yemen, Sudan, and Somalia to counterbalance Emirati influence

🇮🇱 Israel

➡️ The UAE was the first to sign the Abraham Accords and normalize relations with Israel in 2020

➡️ Saudis call the UAE Israel’s “Trojan horse” in the region

⚡️ Personal enmity?

➡️ Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) and UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed (MBZ) have experienced a breakdown in relations over the past few years, reports say

➡️ US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein even considered Jamal Khashoggi’s murder an MBZ plot

Qatar: the Gulf’s black sheep?

🔴 During the 2017–2021 Qatar crisis, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt imposed a full diplomatic and economic blockade on Doha; Oman and Kuwait stayed neutral

🔴 The rift was driven by Qatar’s support for Islamist networks, especially the Muslim Brotherhood, seen by Gulf monarchies as a threat to stability

🔴 Turkey, another Muslim Brotherhood supporter, backs Qatar, which is seen as a conduit and enabler of Ankara’s influence in the region

Intense competition for leadership in the region

🔴 Main contenders:

🇹🇷 Turkey, the heir to the Ottoman Islamic Caliphate

🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia, the custodian of Mecca and Medina

🇮🇱 Israel, a Western colonial outpost

🇮🇷 Iran, a state-civilization and Shiite theocracy

How could the region transform?

🌏 In the 1960s–1970s, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar were relatively weak, surrounded by stronger regional powers such as Egypt, Iraq, Iran, and Syria

🌏 Later wars—including the Iran–Iraq War, US/NATO interventions, and the 2011 Arab Spring—reshaped the balance, conveniently boosting US-backed players: Israel and the Gulf monarchies

🌏 The Iran war suggests a new twist: US regional bases are destroyed, Israel faces mounting security and economic pressure, and Gulf economies are on the edge of crisis

🌏 Iran has proposed a Gulf security framework excluding Western powers, with reported Saudi support and Omani backing for its Strait of Hormuz initiative

🌏 This points to a possible emerging balance centered on Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Oman, with diminished roles for Bahrain, Kuwait, the UAE, and Israel; Turkey is unlikely to dominate Gulf affairs, leaving Qatar’s position uncertain.

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