Iran threatens to hit Gulf states if US launches new strikes

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - DUBAI — Iran has threatened Washington’s closest allies in the Gulf that any new US strikes on its territory would trigger retaliation against critical energy infrastructure across the region.

The warning was delivered through a flurry of high-level diplomatic contacts after President Donald Trump threatened on July 28 to strike Iran’s energy network and infrastructure if a deal was not agreed to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

After Trump made the threat, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said any such attack would lead Tehran to strike US military assets and energy facilities across the region.

Reuters reported that Araghchi urged his Saudi, Turkish and Qatari counterparts, as well as Pakistan’s army chief, to counsel Trump against renewed attacks as Iran sought to raise the cost of US military action for Gulf states.

Several regional sources with knowledge of the conversations told Reuters that Araghchi’s message was consistent.

“The Iranian warning was unequivocal: if America targeted Iran’s infrastructure, they would retaliate by striking Gulf energy facilities and other regional targets,” one Gulf source told the outlet.

Araqchi urged the Gulf states to use their influence with Trump to dissuade him from launching renewed strikes, the senior diplomat said.

“We’re ready to ‌retaliate, but finding a diplomatic solution is the best way to avoid wider escalation and destruction ​across ‌the ⁠region,” Araghchi was quoted as saying.

The diplomatic maneuvering underscores how Iran is attempting to use the threat of wider regional destruction as leverage against further US strikes, putting Gulf states that host US military bases and depend on energy exports in a difficult position between Washington and Tehran.

The warning was intended for every Gulf state, another Gulf source said, but was conveyed primarily through Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Qatar, Oman and Saudi Arabia have all ‌urged Washington to resume talks with Tehran and avert renewed conflict amid Iranian warnings that ‌another round of US strikes could “turn the region into a fireball,” the second Iranian ​official said. On August 2, Trump said he agreed to cancel ‌the attack on Iran “subject to being able to rapidly make a deal.”

“Saudi Arabia believes ‌further escalation will only bring more destruction,” the first Gulf source said. “That is why it urged Trump to give diplomacy a chance.”

While urging Washington to pursue diplomacy, Riyadh also made clear it would defend itself if threatened.

Ali Shihabi, a Saudi analyst close to the Royal Court, said the Kingdom’s assessment is that further escalation is unlikely to ‌achieve the desired result. “The Kingdom believes a combination of proportionate military responses and sustained pressure on Iran in the Strait of Hormuz offers the strongest path toward a practical diplomatic settlement,” Shihabi said.

Iran’s ⁠clerical leadership has repeatedly demanded ⁠the closure of US military bases in the Gulf and called on Gulf Arab states to stop sharing intelligence with Washington, which Tehran believes has been used to facilitate attacks against it.

“The enemy continues to threaten Iranian infrastructure. If Iran suffers damage, it will inflict far greater damage in return,” one Iranian official said.

By threatening infrastructure critical to Gulf economies, Tehran is seeking to convince both Washington and its Arab partners that another attack on Iran would carry unacceptable economic and strategic consequences, encouraging regional states to press Trump to avoid renewed military action.

From Tehran’s perspective, Trump now faces two unpalatable choices, the senior Iranian official said: escalate a conflict that could engulf the ​Gulf and disrupt global energy supplies, or accept a negotiated outcome ​that falls short of the decisive victory Washington seeks.

One of the principal obstacles to an agreement, the senior regional diplomat said, is Washington’s reluctance to allow Tehran to emerge claiming victory.

“The United States wants something it can present as proof that it won the war,” the diplomat said.