Gulf States Demand US and China Curb Iran
Saudi Arabia is calling on the US and China to secure shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al-Mandab Strait. Frustrated by the lack of progress, regional states are pushing for decisive action against the Iranian threat.
Saudi Arabia is demanding that the US and China find solutions to the issue of the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al-Mandab Strait and bring about the renewal of free passage for tankers and merchant ships from the Gulf to the rest of the world. The appeal to China, alongside the appeal to the US, stems from it being the main consumer of oil and gas from the Gulf. Although it has other sources, such as Russia, they do not supply the full consumption required for the giant country.
According to a report by the Reuters news agency, the Gulf states are turning to Beijing out of growing frustration with the war, which has placed them in the line of fire and harmed their vital energy exports. The appeal puts to the test China's dual status, as it is both a major buyer of oil from the Gulf states and Iran's largest trading partner.
China's dual status
During the war, the Chinese switched to alternative sources instead of Iran, which was a major supplier and from which exports stopped almost completely during most days of the war. One of these sources was Saudi Arabia, which managed to transfer some of its oil to the Yanbu port on the Red Sea, and from there through the Bab al-Mandab Strait to the Far East — to India, China, and other consumers.
As part of this appeal, China is required to exert its influence on the regime in Tehran so that it reaches a compromise on the issue of the Strait of Hormuz and restrains its proteges, the Houthis, in the Bab al-Mandab Strait. According to diplomatic sources from the region, the Saudis, backed by the rest of the Gulf states, have conveyed a series of messages to this effect to Beijing, but so far have not received a satisfactory response.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held dozens of talks and meetings with his counterparts in an attempt to formulate a new ceasefire, and Beijing's special envoy to the region also held talks in the Gulf capitals and in Iran. The Chinese Foreign Ministry told Reuters that China has maintained close communication with all parties and has worked to end the fighting and promote peace.
Beijing has also conducted direct contacts with the Houthis in Yemen, in an attempt to allow tankers linked to China to sail in the Red Sea without being attacked. However, the understandings reached did not create pressure to stop all attacks. Sources in the Gulf doubt whether China is not exerting its full influence due to inability or lack of will, among other things because a prolonged war increases the pressure on the US.
Demanding a solution — military or political
From the Americans, the Saudis want a military or political solution against Iran, with the preference being for a military solution. In the meetings of the Saudi Defense Minister, Prince Khalid bin Salman, with President Donald Trump and other senior American officials at the White House, this was a central topic, and military ways to protect strategic shipping lanes were discussed.
In a meeting with Vice President J.D. Vance, his first with the Saudi Defense Minister, Prince Khalid said that the Kingdom will not tolerate attacks on its energy infrastructure or civilian targets.
The Saudis are in a bind here. On the one hand, they would be the first — in fact, the second after Israel — to welcome an uncompromising struggle against the regime in Tehran until its downfall. On the other hand, unlike us, they suffer from this struggle directly and on a daily basis and seek to end it as soon as possible. The Saudis are trying to form a coalition of Arab Gulf states, together with Egypt and Jordan, to exert pressure against the powers and in every possible forum against the Iranian threat in the straits.
According to the diplomatic sources, this also involves military and intelligence cooperation that may lead later to a full struggle against Iran alongside the US. So far, the Gulf states have carried out a small number of attacks, and mostly preferred to keep it low-profile. Sources indicate that this number currently stands at at least four.
Declaration of total war?
Does this mean a declaration of total war on Iran by the Arab bloc? It is possible that if Iran persists in blocking the straits, there will be no choice but to take this step. One of the diplomats tells "Hayom": "The approach of containment, dialogue, and mediation attempts has gone bankrupt, and in all Arab capitals it is understood today that the Iranian regime will not stop unless they stop it."
Tensions also flared up this week following an attack aimed at oil facilities in eastern Saudi Arabia. The Reuters news agency reported today (Thursday), citing two sources in the Middle East, that the Houthis attacked the Kingdom from within Iraqi territory, in cooperation with pro-Iranian militias operating in the country.
According to estimates by Saudi Arabia and other regional partners, the attack indicates that the parties belonging to the Iranian axis have deepened their cooperation with each other and their ability to harm US allies in the region. This is despite the attacks they suffered at the hands of Israel and the US in the various arenas, including Lebanon and Iran. Prince Khalid expressed in Washington this change in the Saudi approach, which pushes for a faster solution to the issue of the Strait of Hormuz and a strategic solution against Iran in the long term.
In Washington, they heard the calls, but there is still no fundamental change in the approach and the discussions continue. The policy now is the continuation of the economic siege on Iran and its intensification, out of the understanding that it is what exerts effective pressure on the regime, and primarily on the Revolutionary Guards. Beijing also does not intend at this stage to use military force to open the Strait of Hormuz. In this, the Gulf states remain between the two superpowers.
