The joint US–Israel war against Iran has exposed the fragility of Iran–GCC relations. While the GCC states have displayed a considerable degree of unity in condemning Iranian attacks on them, the conflict has also highlighted differences among the GCC states regarding their responses to Iranian military actions.

The joint United States–Israel strike on Iran in February 2026 has significantly altered the dynamics of Iran’s relations with the Arab Gulf monarchies. Iranian retaliatory strikes against US military bases and civilian targets across all six GCC states, coupled with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, have severely affected GCC–Iran relations. Despite suffering considerable physical damage and civilian casualties, the Gulf monarchies have adopted a largely restrained approach towards Iran, seeking to avoid further escalation. At present, the future trajectory of Iran–GCC relations remains uncertain. Nevertheless, the relationship has become more strained and complicated as the West Asian region remains turbulent.

Iranian Attack and the GCC’s Response

The GCC member states were subjected to a significant number of missile and drone attacks launched by Iran during the war. Despite sustaining substantial damage, the GCC countries refrained from retaliatory military action to avoid further escalation. GCC condemned the Iranian missile and drone attacks on them. For the GCC, the Iranian attacks were a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of its member states. In the face of the Iranian attacks, all the GCC states showed full solidarity with each other.[1]

The GCC condemned the Iranian attacks on them and stated that it retains the right to respond to the Iranian aggression. On 1 March 2026, the GCC held its 50th Extraordinary Meeting of the Ministerial Council to discuss the Iranian attacks on its member states. The Council reiterated its position, in accordance with the Joint Defence Agreement and the GCC Charter, that an attack against any member state is an attack on all GCC member states.[2]

Iran had previously clarified to the GCC countries its reservations regarding the presence of American military bases in the region. Iran has stated that it is committed to the principle of good neighbourliness and that it has no big differences with individual GCC countries. However, the American military presence in its neighbourhood is a red line.[3] For the GCC countries, the American security umbrella is crucial to their national security. Iran had also made clear before the start of the war that if Israel and the United States launch an attack on Iran, then the United States’ military bases in the GCC countries will be regarded as their legitimate military targets.[4]

As the US and Israel started attacking Iran, it not only responded to Israel but also launched simultaneous attacks on American bases in all the GCC countries. This has put the GCC countries in a political and strategic dilemma. Their retaliation to the Iranian attacks would have been seen as aligning with the United States and Israel in their war on Iran. Non-retaliation to the continuous Iranian strikes on their territory portrays them as weak powers in front of Iran, which was violating their territorial sovereignty. This is where differences among the GCC countries started to emerge and gradually consolidate.

The intensity of the attacks, however, varied across the GCC states. The UAE experienced the highest number of attacks, receiving more than 2,500 missile and drone strikes since the outbreak of the war.[5] This was followed by Kuwait with 791 attacks, Bahrain with 429 attacks, Qatar with 270 attacks, and Oman, which reported 22 drone attacks.[6] There are several reasons why Iran targeted the UAE more than any other country. Iran perceives the UAE as being closely aligned with Israel, particularly following the signing of the Abraham Accords and the normalisation of relations between the two countries in 2020. Since then, cooperation between the UAE and Israel has grown significantly across political, economic and security domains.

Several reports suggest that during the US–Israel–Iran War, Israel has supplied air defence systems and military personnel to assist the UAE in addressing the threats emanating from Iran.[7] In addition, it is widely believed that the UAE has launched retaliatory attacks against Iran,[8] although Abu Dhabi has not publicly acknowledged any direct military involvement or aggressive response. Furthermore, tensions between Iran and the UAE are also........

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