Gulf Leaders Meet In Saudi Arabia To Discuss Response To Iranian Strikes
April 28 (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia will host an extraordinary meeting of Gulf leaders in Jeddah on Tuesday. This meeting will be the first face-to-face meeting of Gulf leaders since their states became fronts in the Iran war two months ago.
A Gulf official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the meeting was aimed at responding to the thousands of Iranian missile and drone attacks that Gulf countries have faced since the United States and Israel launched the war by attacking Iran on February 28.
The war caused damage to major energy infrastructure in all six Gulf Cooperation Council countries; Military facilities were also targeted, as well as US-linked companies and other civilian infrastructure.
Attacks have decreased since the US and Iran entered into a ceasefire on April 8, but Gulf capitals remain wary of a resumption of the conflict and US-Iran talks on a permanent deal to end the conflict have so far proven fruitless.
According to reports in Saudi state media, the emir of Qatar, the crown prince of Kuwait, the king of Bahrain and the foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates arrived in Jeddah to attend the summit. It was not clear who would represent Oman, the remaining member of the Gulf Cooperation Council, along with Saudi Arabia, where the Gulf Cooperation Council is headquartered.
The Gulf Cooperation Council has faced some criticism for the UAE’s inadequate response to the war.
“It is true that logistically the Gulf Cooperation Council countries support each other, but politically and militarily I think their position is the weakest in history,” senior UAE official Anwar Gargash told a conference in the UAE on Monday.
“I expected such a weak position from the Arab League and I was not surprised by it, but I also did not expect it from the Gulf Cooperation Council and I was surprised by it.”
(Reporting by Nayera Abdallah and Timour Azhari; Writing by Tala Ramadan; Editing by Andrew Heavens, Aidan Lewis)
