Qatar Warns Gulf States: Reliance on US Alone Not Enough for Security
Abu Dhabi/Tehran — Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majid Al-Ansari has said the Iran-US war has shown that Gulf Arab states cannot rely solely on strategic partnership with Washington for their security. Speaking at a panel during the Heil Forum in Abu Dhabi, he said the presence of global powers in the region and the strategic…
Abu Dhabi/Tehran — Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majid Al-Ansari has said the Iran-US war has shown that Gulf Arab states cannot rely solely on strategic partnership with Washington for their security. Speaking at a panel during the Heil Forum in Abu Dhabi, he said the presence of global powers in the region and the strategic alliance with the US are important, but not sufficient to guarantee full security. He added that the way forward for Gulf states is to build greater self-reliance in defense and security.
Meanwhile, tensions between Iran and the US have flared again after a relative lull for most of August. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps struck two US warships with ballistic missiles, and the US responded by hitting three Iranian oil tankers on Saturday. Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf warned that Washington needs to “change the rules of the game” before it’s too late, saying future responses to attacks on Iran’s interests would be “faster, harsher, and more painful.” Separately, Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, claimed Iran used an Iranian-made “anti-destroyer” missile against a US warship for the first time, though the US has not confirmed the claim. CENTCOM, referencing the earlier strike on its two ships, warned that any further attack on US vessels would draw a “far heavier” economic and military cost, threatening to destroy three Iranian ships in response.
