We were struck by the report in The Wall Street Journal last week that Iran, via secret diplomatic backchannels, has threatened to target oil-rich Arab Gulf states and other American allies in the Middle East if they permitted their territories or airspace to be used for an attack on Iran.
Israel, of course, has vowed to retaliate against Iran after Iran fired more than 180 ballistic missiles at Israel in early October. In fact, some Gulf regional allies have reportedly told the Pentagon that they that they do not want their airspace or territory to be used by the U.S. or Israel for any offensive operation against Iran.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the countries threatened by Iran include Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. It will be recalled that some Arab states, including Jordan, helped shoot down Iranian missies and rockets launched against Israel in April, a role they presumably felt was in their security interests. Yet we now have Iran objecting to their acting in what they likely again view as in their own best interests.
It should not be lost on the threatened Arab Gulf states that Iran is flexing its military muscles against them in exactly the way that prompted their openness to the formation of the Abraham Accords to serve as a counterweight to a predatory Iran in the first place. Ironically then, it could well be that the current crisis will reinvigorate the Abraham Accords for which Oct. 7 and the ensuing Gaza War were said to have sounded the death knell.
The way we see it, nothing impresses more than a preview of one’s worst fears played out in real time.
