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In the recent trans-Pacific bromance between American and Japanese X users, one American commenter made a particularly apt observation. Two countries that were bitterest enemies within living memory have discovered how intensely they love each other today. Meanwhile, America’s supposed allies, the Europeans whom Americans sacrificed so much blood and treasures to save from themselves, have spent the decades since sneering at America (while still hiding behind its shield). Now, they’re dragging their heels as a fanatical terrorist state holds the globe to ransom.
At the same time, the corrupt and impotent UN ‘condemns’ the strikes, claiming they ‘undermine peace and security’. As if Iran hasn’t been doing exactly that for half a century, including exporting anti-Semitic terrorism around the world. No wonder the UN is shilling for them.
Iran’s immediate neighbours, by contrast, are under no illusions that they want the death-cult mullahs gone.
Gulf allies of the United States, led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, are urging President Donald Trump to continue prosecuting the war against Iran, arguing that Tehran has not been weakened enough by the monthlong US-led bombing campaign, according to US, Gulf and Israeli officials.
After private grumbling at the start of the war that they were not given adequate advance notice of the US-Israel attack, and complaints that Washington ignored their warnings about devastating regional consequences, some allies are now telling the White House the moment presents a historic opportunity to cripple Tehran’s clerical rule.
Those ‘private grumbles’ early on were all the legacy media and the perfidious European socialists needing to try and peddle a false narrative of an irrational and unchecked America recklessly endangering the world. As for the UN’s demands to end the strikes (as revolting as its near-instantaneous demands for a ‘cease-fire’ in Gaza, after October 7, which so many UN staff were involved in):
Officials from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain have conveyed in private conversations that they do not want the military operation to end until there are significant changes in Iran’s leadership or a dramatic shift in its behavior, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.
The push from Gulf nations comes as Trump vacillates between saying Iran’s weakened leadership is ready to settle the conflict and threatening further escalation if a deal is not reached soon.
And still the legacy media lies continue.
At the same time, Trump is struggling to rally public support at home for a war that has left more than 3,000 dead across the Middle East and is rattling the global economy. Still, he has expressed growing confidence that key regional allies – including some that were hesitant before the war – now support the campaign.
In fact, “public support at home” is growing. Most particularly, Republicans have increased support from a slight majority to a clear majority. Independents are growing, while still in a minority supporting the strikes. Only Democrats, predictably, remain unmoved. A significant minority of Americans simply haven’t made up their minds yet.
And Gulf states that have been subjected to a barrage of Iranian terror strikes, are rallying behind the US.
One Gulf diplomat said Saudi Arabia and the UAE are leading calls to increase military pressure on Tehran.
The UAE has emerged as one of the most hawkish countries and is pushing for a US ground invasion, the diplomat said. Kuwait and Bahrain also support that option. The UAE, which has faced more than 2,300 missile and drone attacks from Iran, has grown increasingly frustrated as the conflict drags on and threatens its image as a regional hub for trade and tourism.
Oman and Qatar, which have historically acted as intermediaries between Iran and the West, favor a diplomatic solution.
Qatar, remember, have for decades played host to Hamas officials who lived in luxury in Qatari hotels and assembled billion-dollar fortunes while ‘Palestinians’ lived in squalor. Qatar, like Iran, has also exported global terrorism by financing terror groups like the Islamic Brotherhood, proscribed in many Islamic countries. Other Gulf states are under no illusions that a ‘diplomatic solution’ will only revert back to the same status quo of the last 50 years.
The diplomat said Saudi Arabia has warned the United States that ending the war now would not produce a “good deal” that guarantees security for Iran’s Arab neighbors.
Saudi officials say any agreement must neutralize Iran’s nuclear program, dismantle its ballistic missile capabilities, end support for proxy groups and ensure the Strait of Hormuz cannot be shut down as it has been during the conflict. About 20 per cent of the world’s oil passed through the waterway before the war.
Achieving those goals would require either major changes to Iran’s ruling system or its removal.
Senior Emirati officials have also sharpened their rhetoric.
“An Iranian regime that launches ballistic missiles at homes, weaponizes global trade and supports proxies is no longer an acceptable feature of the regional landscape,” Noura Al Kaabi, a UAE minister of state for foreign affairs, wrote in a column published Monday in the National. “We want a guarantee that this will never happen again” […]
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has told White House officials that further weakening Iran’s military and leadership serves the long-term interests of the region, according to a person briefed on the talks.
Well, they could always lead by example and help out.
Trump has not called on Gulf nations to take part in offensive operations, in part due to concerns about operational complexity. In the early days of the conflict, three US fighter jets were mistakenly shot down by friendly Kuwaiti fire during an Iranian air assault. All six crew members ejected safely.
Iran, meanwhile, is still openly making terrorist threats against its neighbours.
Iran has warned it could target neighboring countries’ critical infrastructure, including desalination plants, if the United States strikes its power facilities or if the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened.
“The absence of a clear objective, the absence of the trust that the United States is really going to go until the end and finish the job – it’s making some of them reluctant,” [Yasmine Farouk of the International Crisis Group] said. “But if there is a consequential or mass-casualty event in one of those countries, then it would be justified for them to become a belligerent.”
Yet, while Iran deliberately targets civilians and non-combatants, the UN is completely silent, except for attacking the US and Israel. And that says all we need to know.
