Lack of notice about Iran strikes and defense help frustrates some Gulf nations

CAIRO — Allies in the Persian Gulf have expressed growing dissatisfaction with the Trump administration, claiming they were not given enough time to prepare for the barrage of Iranian drones and missiles that are destroying their nations in revenge for strikes by Israel and the United States.

The U.S.'s handling of the conflict, especially the initial attack on Iran last Saturday, has disappointed the governments of two Gulf nations, according to officials from those nations. They argued that the U.S. had disregarded their warnings that the war would have catastrophic effects on the entire area and claimed that their countries were not informed in advance of the U.S.-Israeli strike.

According to one official, the Gulf nations were irritated and even furious that the American military had not done enough to protect them. He claimed that his nation's interceptor stock was "rapidly depleting" and that there is a perception in the area that the operation has been centered on protecting Israel and US soldiers, leaving Gulf nations to defend themselves.

Because they were discussing a sensitive diplomatic issue, the Gulf officials, like others in this story, spoke on condition of anonymity.

Requests for comment from the governments of Bahrain, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia were not answered.

"Iran's retaliatory ballistic missile attacks have decreased by 90% because Operation Epic Fury is crushing their ability to shoot these weapons or produce more," responded White House spokesperson Anna Kelly. The terrorist Iranian regime's attacks on its neighbors demonstrate how urgent it was that President Trump remove this menace to our nation and our allies. President Trump maintains in communication with all of our regional partners.

The Pentagon didn't answer.

Public personalities with close relations to the Gulf Arab governments have publicly criticized the United States, claiming that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dragged President Donald Trump into an unnecessary war. Official responses from the Gulf Arab nations have been subdued.

Former Saudi intelligence chief Prince Turki al-Faisal told CNN on Wednesday, "This is Netanyahu's war." "He managed to persuade Trump, the president, to endorse his beliefs."

During closed-door briefings with Congress this week, Pentagon officials acknowledged that they are having difficulty halting Iran's drone attacks, placing troops and other U.S. targets in the Gulf region at risk.

Because they are well within range of Iran's short-range missiles and contain a variety of targets, such as American troops, well-known tourist and business destinations, and energy facilities, the Gulf nations have become attractive targets for Iran, upsetting the global oil supply.

According to an AP assessment based on official statements, Iran has launched at least 380 missiles and more than 1,480 drones against the five Arab Gulf nations since the war began. Local authorities report that at least 13 people have died in those nations.

Furthermore, an Iranian drone strike on Sunday struck an operations center in a civilian port in Kuwait, more than 10 miles from the major Army installation, killing six U.S. soldiers. One of the dead soldiers' spouses, who served in an Iowa-based supply and logistics unit, described the operations center as a facility resembling a shipping container with no protections.

According to three people familiar with the briefings, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine informed lawmakers during briefings on Tuesday that the United States will not be able to intercept many of the incoming UAVs, particularly the Shaheds.

One of the persons said that when legislators questioned Caine and Hegseth during one of the briefings about why the United States did not appear ready for Iran to launch waves of drones at American locations in the region, they did not provide any information.

According to that individual, a U.S. official familiar with the U.S. security posture in the Gulf, the U.S. lacked widespread capabilities throughout the Gulf region to effectively counter waves of one-way drones arriving at locations outside of conventional targets or bases outside of Iraq and Syria.

This week, a limited fire was started at the Saudi Arabian embassy in Riyadh due to drone strikes, and a small fire was started outside the U.S. consulate in Dubai due to drone assaults in the United Arab Emirates.

According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the United States and its Middle Eastern allies even asked Ukraine for assistance on Thursday. Ukraine is skilled in thwarting Iran's Shahed drones. "Certainly, I'll take, you know, any assistance from any country," Trump told Reuters on Thursday in response to a question concerning Zelenskyy's remarks.

According to Chatham House expert Bader Mousa Al-Saif, who is based in Kuwait, the United States seemed to have overestimated the danger to its Gulf Arab allies, assuming that Iranian reprisal would primarily target Israel and American forces.

He claimed that the absence of a strategy to safeguard the Gulf nations "speaks to U.S. short-sightedness" and that "I don't think they saw that there would be as much exposure to the Gulf."

According to a person acquainted with the delicate diplomatic issue who was not permitted to speak publicly, Israel's relative success in taking down drones and missiles in comparison to some of its neighbors is one factor contributing to the annoyance among some Gulf countries.

Although their air defense systems are not nearly as strong as Israel's, the source claims that U.S. officials have been a little confused by the Gulf nations' continued lack of interest in launching missiles at Iranian sites as part of a counteroffensive.

U.S. national security officials and their Gulf partners knew that Iran could launch major strikes, according to Elliott Abrams, who was a special representative for Iran and Venezuela at the conclusion of Trump's first term.

And the neighbors were terrified of it because they knew it. Iran has a lot to lose, so it was never certain that they would do it, according to Abrams. "If these attacks continue, the Gulf Arabs may begin attacking Iran, leaving long-term animosity in their wake."

While the Gulf nations want to see Iran humbled, they also have serious worries about the continued conflict, notably the instability and economic harm it is generating and its unrestricted nature, according to Michael Ratney, a former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

“What comes next?” asked Ratney, who is currently a senior adviser in the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Middle East program. Whatever that is, the Gulf countries will be the ones that suffer the most.

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