ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — The Persian Gulf nations are building up their own defenses and finding routes around the Strait of Hormuz, officials said, as they confront a U.S. war against Iran with no end in sight.
They are now increasing their spending on security and diversifying their international security partnerships.
Construction on a pipeline in the United Arab Emirates is expanding, while ports in the UAE and Oman that are outside of the Strait of Hormuz are booming, as they become hubs for nations that have no alternative to the narrow waterway, which has largely has been blocked by the war.
As the Trump administration seeks to impose an economic stranglehold on Iran, a tactic with little precedent of success, officials from the United Arab Emirates and Qatar said at the conference in Abu Dhabi that it is essential for Gulf nations, which have long relied on the United States as their top security partner, to broaden their horizons.
“Strategic autonomy does not mean strategic isolation,” said Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic adviser to the president of the UAE. “Our long-standing and trusted partnerships, in particular with the United States, remain an essential part of our security and an important source of strength. The two are complementary, not contradictory.”
Gargash said Iran “remains our neighbor, and at some point we will have to find a way to restore what can be restored.”
“Geography gives us no alternative to engagement,” he added. “But we must distinguish clearly between rebuilding a necessary and functional relationship with Iran and rebuilding the trust that has broken. The first is necessary. The second will be far more difficult.”
Balancing act
Anwar Gargash, an adviser to the UAE president, said Monday at the Hili Forum in Abu Dhabi that “geography gives us no alternative to engagement” with neighboring Iran. (Fadel Senna/AFP/Getty Images)
The remarks by Gargash and other officials underscored the risk to U.S. allies in the Gulf as the Trump administrationseeks to impose maximum pain on the Iranian economy, which is deeply intertwined with those of other Gulf nations.
In recent weeks, the U.S. and Iran have traded limited strikes, with the U.S. military on Saturday saying that it hit three Iranian oil tankers, including one near Kharg Island, the country’s main oil terminal, after Iran launched missiles toward two U.S. Navy warships.
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