America’s hawkish turn on Iran threatens Gulf alliance
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s new Iran policy announcement could have repercussions on US efforts to save the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s call for US allies to get tougher on Iran could cause further fissures in an embattled Gulf alliance already shaken by the Saudi-led blockade of Qatar.
In his first major foreign policy address today, just two weeks after President Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the former CIA director called out all six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) by name to rally around renewed US sanctions on Tehran.
The effort could pit anti-Iran aligned Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain against Qatar, Kuwait and Oman, which favor a less confrontational approach to their powerful neighbor. The unveiling of the new US strategy comes even as the State Department pursues a meeting of the GCC bloc to patch up the nearly year-old Saudi-led embargo of Qatar over its ties to Iran and Islamist groups.
Pompeo acknowledged Monday that US partners would face financial pressures from the reimposition of US sanctions on Tehran.
