Saudi Arabia will host an exceptional meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council in Jeddah on Tuesday (Apr 28), the first in-person meeting of Gulf leaders since their states became a front in the Iran war two months ago.
A Gulf official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the meeting aimed to craft a response to the thousands of Iranian missile and drone attacks Gulf states have faced since the US and Israel launched the war with strikes on Iran on Feb 28.
The war has seen key energy infrastructure in all six GCC states damaged, with US-linked firms and other civilian infrastructure, as well as military installations, also targeted.
Attacks have subsided since the US and Iran entered a ceasefire on Apr 8, though Gulf capitals remain wary of resumed conflict, with US-Iran talks for a permanent deal to end the conflict so far inconclusive.
Qatar on Tuesday cautioned against the possibility of a “frozen conflict” in the Gulf, as talks between the US and Iran for a peace deal appeared at an impasse.
“We do not want to see a return to hostilities in the region anytime soon, we do not want to see a frozen conflict that ends up being thawed every time there is a political reason,” Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said at a press conference.
Qatar’s emir, Kuwait’s crown prince, Bahrain’s king and the United Arab Emirates’ foreign minister arrived in Jeddah to attend the summit, Saudi state media reported. It was unclear who would represent Oman, the remaining member of the GCC along with Saudi Arabia, which hosts the council’s headquarters.
The GCC has faced some criticism from the United Arab Emirates for what the UAE has said has been an inadequate response to the war.
“It is true that, logistically, the GCC countries supported each other, but politically and militarily, I think their position was 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 am not surprised by it, but I have not expected it from the GCC, and I am surprised by it.”