Jun 29, 2026 17:29 pm IST

Opinion | The Post-War Middle East May Already Be Splitting Into Two New 'Camps'

We may see a closer Qatar-Oman-Iran trilateral partnership emerging in the coming days, while another grouping already in the making is of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Egypt.

Aditi Bhaduri Aditi Bhaduri Columnist

Aditi Bhaduri Columnist

A fragile US-Iran detente is in place with the possibility that it may hold. Qatar and Pakistan are the two mediators. In an interview recently to Financial Times, Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, said regional countries are seeking to establish a new regional security framework with Tehran aimed at restoring long-term stability.

Qatar is one of the Arab Gulf states that has usually had a more accommodative and conciliatory position regarding Iran, with which it also shares the Pars gas fields. Qatar is almost entirely dependent on the Strait of Hormuz for its exports and imports. But Qatar also hosts the US military's Central Command. This position, therefore, propelled it into the role of a mediator in the current conflict in West Asia. Mediation is also one of the tools of Qatar's official foreign policy. That is why the Prime Minister's words matter. A regional security makeover will surely be one of the outcomes of this war.

The US has till now been a key security partner of the Gulf states, with Iran being a major threat perception for these countries. There has, however, been an increasing perception, at least since the outbreak of the Arab Spring, that the US was not as invested in Gulf security and was increasingly pivoting to the Indo-Pacific to contain an assertive China. If the current administration of US President Donald Trump allayed these concerns for a while, then the Iran war has helped reignite them. American bases and military equipment in the Gulf countries, for instance, became a liability for these countries as Iran repeatedly targeted them during the war. Moreover, reports emerged that the US, in fact, moved some equipment out of these states to Israel. Influences and analysts the Gulf states openly criticised the US for failing to protect its Gulf allies in the manner they needed. Now, The Wall Street Journal, quoting American officials, has again published a report that amidst the........

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