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Iran's attacks on the Gulf states have “profound geopolitical repercussions” and highlight the Iranian threat as a central focus of Gulf strategic thinking, Dr Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the President, said on Sunday.
The attacks “reinforce the Gulf's security particularity and its independence from traditional concepts of Arab security”, Dr Gargash said in a post on X.
Iran threatened on Sunday that infrastructure in the region would become “legitimate targets” should US President Donald Trump carry out his threat on Saturday to "obliterate" Iranian power plants unless Tehran allowed ships to pass unharmed through the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours.
“The missiles and drones and the aggressive rhetoric are Iranian. And the result is to bolster our national capabilities and the joint Gulf security, as well as to solidify our security partnerships with Washington. This is the cost of Iran's misguided calculations,” Dr Gargash said.
“As we confront Iran's brutal aggression and discover our unwavering strength in steadfastness and resilience, our thinking does not stop at a ceasefire, but extends to solutions that guarantee sustainable security in the Arabian Gulf, curbing the nuclear threat, missiles, drones, and the bullying of the straits,” he added.
“It is inconceivable that aggression should become a permanent state of threat.”
The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman have faced repeated attacks on their energy infrastructure since the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran three weeks ago.
The UAE's air defences engaged with 25 drones and four ballistic missiles on Sunday, taking the total number of projectiles launched at the country since February 28 to 1,773 drones, 345 ballistic missiles and 15 cruise missiles, the Ministry of Defence said.
Apart from launching strikes on Israel and on what it says are US bases and interests in Gulf Arab states, Iran has effectively closed off the Strait of Hormuz since the war began, cutting off about 20 per cent of the world's energy supply and sending oil prices soaring.
Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf said in a post on X on Sunday that critical infrastructure and energy sites in the region would immediately become "legitimate targets" should the US carry out Mr Trump's threat to force open the narrow waterway.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the strait "will not be opened until our destroyed power plants are rebuilt".
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday urged more countries to join the war, saying that he and Mr Trump were fighting the conflict for “all of you”.
“I ask the leaders of the world, the leaders of the free world, the leaders of the moderate states, what more are you waiting for?” Mr Netanyahu said during a speech at the site of an Iranian missile attack on the southern city of Dimona that injured scores of people on Saturday evening.
