US-Iran war accelerates multipolarity in the Middle East: The conflict has weakened U.S. dominance, strengthened regional actors (Saudi Arabia, Turkey, UAE), and elevated Iran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz despite military setbacks. 

Gulf states pursuing strategic autonomy: Countries are diversifying security partnerships, economic ties, and diplomatic channels, forming new coalitions (e.g., Egypt-Turkey-Saudi-Pakistan, UAE-Israel) to manage competition and coexist with Iran rather than relying solely on Washington. 

Fluid new regional architecture: Three overlapping tracks (U.S.-led Abraham Accords, regional autonomy, China-supported de-escalation) are creating issue-based coalitions instead of fixed alliances, with Russia and China benefiting from the instability.

For decades, the strategic map of the Middle East was a simple one. Washington was the indispensable architect. The security of the Gulf states, the flow of global oil, and the containment of Iran were all built around the pillar of American power. However, the 2026 war with Iran did not just challenge that order but rather shattered it.  The current war between Iran and the US has forged a new, multipolar Middle East that is more complex, more volatile, and ultimately less reliant on any single superpower. Thereby, the conflict exposed the limits of traditional security arrangements and accelerated a trend that had been quietly unfolding for years: The rise of regional powers with the confidence and capacity to shape events independently. In this evolving order, countries such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates are no longer merely responding to geopolitical shifts — they are increasingly becoming the architects of them.

The conflict, which broke out on February 28, 2026, was intended to change the Iranian regime and demonstrate American credibility. However,  the United States failed to achieve its strategic objectives. Iran emerged not as a broken state, but as the preeminent power in the Persian Gulf, with unprecedented control over the Strait of Hormuz. The war has severely undermined American soft power, replaced a cautious supreme leader with a hardline military-dominated regime led by a young leader, and convinced Arab states that the American security umbrella is no longer absolute.

The Specter of Hormuz

Nowhere is this shift more visible than in the fight for the Strait of Hormuz as a chokepoint of world energy. As of July 2026, the United States and Iran are locked in a dangerous game of gradual escalation, each asserting control over the vital waterway. After Iran had declared the strait closed and struck a vessel, the U.S. launched strikes on some 140 Iranian targets. Iran responded by targeting U.S. allies across the Gulf. Iran targeted the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan. More surprising than the attacks on Iran’s regional rivals was the decision to target Oman—a state long viewed as Tehran’s most trusted interlocutor in the Gulf and a consistent diplomatic bridge between Iran and the West since 1979. The reported strikes on the Port of Duqm and the Musandam Governorate, which commands a critical position overlooking the Strait of Hormuz, suggest a significant shift in Iran’s strategic calculations.

But the confrontation has evolved beyond a simple naval contest. Washington is now targeting........

© Eurasia Review