The war in Gaza has left enormous pain and anger across the Arab world and far beyond it. Yet only days ago, Morocco and Israel agreed to take another step in the opposite direction: upgrading their diplomatic representation to full embassies and appointing ambassadors.

At almost the same time, Mauritania – a relatively quiet and moderate Arab state that has traditionally sought good relations with a wide range of countries – summoned Iran’s ambassador to protest activities it said were inconsistent with diplomatic norms.

These developments in North Africa should not be viewed in isolation from what has been happening hundreds of miles to the east, in the Gulf, since February 28.

For many in the Gulf, Iran can no longer be regarded simply as a difficult neighbor with whom we have political disagreements.

The Iranian attacks that followed the beginning of the US-Israeli war on February 28 brought missiles, drones and the consequences of a conflict we had not chosen directly into Gulf territory. Iran’s strikes targeted countries hosting American military facilities and placed civilian lives, airports, ports, energy infrastructure, hotels, shipping routes and major economic assets at risk.

That mattered politically as much as militarily.

The Gulf Cooperation Council had strongly condemned Israel’s attacks on Iran during the 12-day war in 2025 and called for diplomacy and de-escalation. Yet when another conflict erupted, Tehran chose to extend the battlefield into Gulf states themselves.

The consequence has been a profound erosion of trust.

Through its own actions – and through the activities of armed groups aligned with it – Tehran has made relations with its Arab neighbors increasingly defined by suspicion, including among governments that had spent years trying to maintain dialogue with the Islamic Republic.

That does not mean the door to diplomacy should be permanently........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)