Iran is exerting intense pressure on the Gulf states to take initiatives to persuade Donald Trump to halt the strikes against Tehran and to seek, instead, to end the war through negotiations. Otherwise, it is threatening to attack their oil, electricity, and water facilities.
The warning concerned attacks on energy facilities, oil wells, refineries, power grids, water supply infrastructure, transportation networks, and other strategic infrastructure belonging to Washington’s closest Arab allies, according to a senior Iranian official, as reported by Reuters.
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The Houthis attacked airports in Saudi Arabia
The message—which is part of a broader Iranian effort to deter further U.S. military action, by raising the prospect of serious economic turmoil throughout the Gulf region—was conveyed through a series of high-level diplomatic contacts after Trump threatened, on July 28, to strike Iran’s energy network and infrastructure, the sources said.
Two senior Iranian officials, two sources from the Gulf region, and a senior regional diplomat familiar with the talks said that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, held talks with his counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Qatar, as well as with the chief of the Pakistani military.
Araghchi urged Washington’s allies in the Gulf to use their influence on Trump to dissuade him from carrying out new strikes, the senior diplomat said, warning that any attack on Iran would provoke retaliation against U.S. assets and critical infrastructure throughout the Gulf region.
His message was consistent in every conversation, the diplomat revealed: “We are prepared to respond, but finding a diplomatic solution is the best way to avoid a broader escalation and devastation across the entire region,” he said.
“The Iranian warning was unequivocal: if the U.S. were to target Iran’s infrastructure, Iran would respond by striking energy facilities in the Gulf and other regional targets,” said a source from the Gulf.
Iran’s Gamble
This diplomatic campaign highlights Tehran’s effort to turn the Gulf’s vulnerability into a bargaining chip, confronting the region’s governments with the prospect that a new U.S.-Iran conflict could put the infrastructure underpinning their economies directly in the crosshairs.
It is telling that the heir to the Saudi Arabian throne, Mohammed bin Salman, spoke with Trump, urging him to delay military action, return to negotiations, secure a ceasefire, and seek a diplomatic settlement, according to a senior diplomat and sources in the Gulf.
The warning was addressed to all Gulf states, another source from the region said, but it was conveyed primarily through Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
In recent years, Iran has restored relations with its Gulf neighbors, including Saudi Arabia, with which it was once at odds.
Qatar, Oman, and Saudi Arabia urged Washington to resume talks with Tehran and prevent a new conflict, amid Iranian warnings that a new round of U.S. strikes could “turn the region into a fiery hell,” the second Iranian official said.
On August 2, Trump stated that he had agreed to call off the attack on Iran, “provided that an agreement could be reached quickly.”
Risks of Regional Escalation
“Saudi Arabia believes that further escalation will only bring more destruction,” said the first source from the Gulf. “That is why it urged Trump to give diplomacy a chance,” the source added.
Despite urging Washington to pursue diplomatic channels, Riyadh also made it clear that it would defend itself if threatened. The second source from the Gulf reported that Saudi Arabia warned that any attack on its territory would be met with a military response.
Ali Shihabi, a Saudi analyst close to the Royal Court, stated that the kingdom’s assessment is that further escalation is unlikely to achieve the desired result. “The Kingdom believes that a combination of proportionate military responses and sustained pressure on Iran in the Strait of Hormuz is the most effective path toward a practical diplomatic settlement,”, Shihabi emphasized.
Iran’s religious leadership has repeatedly called for the closure of U.S. military bases in the Gulf and has urged Arab states in the region to stop sharing intelligence with Washington—information that, according to Tehran, has been used to facilitate attacks against it.
“They still remember the Aramco incident in Saudi Arabia,” he added, referring to the drone and missile attacks in September 2019 against the Abqaiq and Khurais facilities, which temporarily shut down more than half of the kingdom’s crude oil production and highlighted the vulnerability of the Gulf’s energy infrastructure.
“The enemy continues to threaten Iranian infrastructure. If Iran suffers damage, it will inflict much greater damage in retaliation,” added the Iranian official, referring to a list of targets that includes power grids and oil refineries.
Tehran’s Perspective
From Tehran’s perspective, Trump now faces two unpleasant choices, said the senior Iranian official: either to escalate a conflict that could engulf the entire Gulf and disrupt the global energy supply, or to accept a negotiated solution that would not secure the decisive victory Washington is seeking.
One of the main obstacles to reaching an agreement, according to a senior diplomat in the region, is Washington’s reluctance to allow Tehran to emerge as the victor. “The United States wants something it can present as proof that it won the war,” the diplomat emphasized.
Source: CNN.gr
