The Iranian ultimatum to the Gulf: Stop Donald Trump - or you will pay

Iran has launched an intensive diplomatic campaign toward the Gulf states, presenting them with a clear ultimatum: persuade the President of the United States, Donald Trump, to stop the American attacks and return to the negotiating table, or your oil, electricity, and water infrastructure will become the next target.

According to an exclusive report by the Reuters news agency, the Iranian warning includes an explicit threat to strike energy facilities, oil fields, refineries, power grids, water infrastructure, and transportation networks of Washington's closest allies in the Middle East. The unequivocal message was conveyed during a series of diplomatic contacts at the highest levels, after Donald Trump threatened at the end of July to strike the energy infrastructure of the Islamic Republic.

Sources familiar with the details told Reuters that the Iranian Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, spoke with his counterparts in Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Qatar, as well as with the commander of the Pakistan Army. In all his conversations, Abbas Araghchi repeated the same message:

"We are ready to respond, but finding a diplomatic solution is the best way to prevent escalation and destruction throughout the region."

The diplomatic campaign reveals how Tehran is trying to leverage the vulnerability of the Gulf states and place them before a reality in which a renewed conflict between the United States and Iran could put their economies in the line of fire. Following the threats, the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, spoke with Donald Trump and urged him to pause the military action and strive for a ceasefire and a diplomatic settlement. Qatar, Oman, and Saudi Arabia all called on Washington to resume talks and prevent the region from becoming a "fireball," as an Iranian official put it.

In Riyadh, while they are pushing the Americans toward a diplomatic solution, they have also made it clear that any attack on their territory will be met with a harsh military response on their part. In the Iranian camp, they remind the Gulf states of their vulnerability, among other things by mentioning the drone and missile attacks on 'Aramco' facilities in 2019, which temporarily paralyzed over half of the kingdom's oil production and proved the fragility of energy infrastructure in the Gulf.

From the perspective in Tehran, Donald Trump is now facing two difficult choices: to escalate the conflict in a way that could paralyze the Gulf and disrupt global energy supplies, or to accept a political outcome that will not grant him the decisive victory that Washington desires.