Apr 01, 2026 16:32 pm IST

Opinion | What's Behind UAE And Saudi's Offer To 'Join' Trump's Iran War?

If Trump withdraws from this war, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries would be left to face the music alone, with an angrier, fiercer, and possibly more vengeful Iran.

Aditi Bhaduri Aditi Bhaduri

When the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia signed the Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement (SMDA) with Pakistan, a number of members of Iran's Strategic community had expressed optimism. Since the agreement had followed Israel's first and unprecedented attacks on Qatar - even if on Hamas members it alleged were being sheltered there - these strategic thinkers felt it would strengthen anti-Israel cooperation and alliance in the region. Some in Iran even expressed willingness to join the alliance, as just a couple of months prior to the SMDA, Iran had fought its first direct war against Israel. It had ended in a stalemate, but it put Iran on notice. No longer was the conflict between the two adversaries in the shadows, fought through proxies. Now, any confrontation would be direct.

The current war - named Operation Epic Fury and Roaring Lion by the US and Israel, respectively, has laid that optimism to rest. Since the early days of the war, American media have reported that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), the de facto power behind the throne, had been urging the US to go to war with Iran. In public posturing, though, the kingdom has struck a different note. It has called for diplomacy, for easing of tensions between the Kingdom and Iran. 

A Decades-Old Problem

For Saudi Arabia, as indeed for other states of the Gulf Cooperation Council - UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar - Iran has been a threat since the Islamic Republic was born in 1979, and whose ideology and motto has been to import the Revolution. 

The Gulf monarchies are one of the last absolute monarchies in the world. Regime survival is prioritised over everything else. Over the decades, Iran has been a challenge to Saudi leadership of the Muslim world, with its support for Palestinians, the import of its ideology, and by propping up proxies in neighbouring........

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