Iran's rhetoric and policies toward Gulf states have sharply escalated, raising questions about whether years of painstaking regional rapprochement can survive mounting distrust and maritime confrontations.
![Traffic passes a billboard depicting Iranian ballistic missiles in service, with text in Arabic reading "the honest [person's] promise" and in Persian "Israel is weaker than a spider's web," Valiasr Square, Tehran, April 15, 2024. ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images.](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2026-05/GettyImages-2147824584.jpg?h=67ca0ccd&itok=5Mrozs-5)
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![Traffic passes a billboard depicting Iranian ballistic missiles in service, with text in Arabic reading "the honest [person's] promise" and in Persian "Israel is weaker than a spider's web," Valiasr Square, Tehran, April 15, 2024. ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images.](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2026-05/GettyImages-2147824584.jpg?h=67ca0ccd&itok=KLWpHMGN)
