Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has fired diplomatic warning shots at Gulf states over their continued military cooperation with the United States, warning that this cooperation is costing them their regional security. His statement on X came over a month into the Iran-US war and was one of the most pointed diplomatic messages Tehran has issued to neighboring governments. Pezeshkian urged Gulf leaders to recognize the cost of their current strategic choices.
Gulf nations including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman, Kuwait, and Qatar have allowed the US to station military forces on their soil, forces that have now been used to strike Iran. Tehran has retaliated with attacks inside those countries, making the Gulf a secondary theater of the conflict. The human, economic, and political costs of this situation for Gulf governments and populations are mounting steadily.
Pezeshkian was firm in stating that Iran’s military actions are purely defensive and retaliatory. He warned Gulf governments that cooperating with US military operations against Iran makes them legitimate targets for Iranian retaliation. His diplomatic warning shots were designed to push Gulf leaders toward reconsidering their alignment, framing the shift as a matter of survival and development.
Pakistan has taken on a prominent mediating role in the crisis. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif confirmed that Pezeshkian views trust as an essential starting point before any peace talks can meaningfully proceed. Pakistan’s foreign ministry has organized a multilateral meeting in Islamabad with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Turkey to discuss de-escalation pathways.
Pakistan’s Ishaq Dar will chair the discussions and facilitate meetings with Prime Minister Sharif. Iran has praised Islamabad’s mediation as constructive and genuine. The Islamabad meetings, coming amid Iran’s escalating diplomatic pressure on Gulf states, represent a critical juncture in the international effort to end the conflict.