US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is heading into a difficult Gulf mission as America’s Arab allies fear Washington’s Iran deal could strengthen Tehran and weaken regional security.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected this week to present Washington’s peace agreement with Iran to Gulf Arab leaders, many of whom fear that excessive concessions to Tehran could reshape the region’s security balance and threaten the flow of oil through critical maritime routes.
At the center of the concern is a draft framework that reportedly places no restrictions on Iran’s ballistic missile program, includes a proposed $300 billion reconstruction fund and contains guidelines that could expand Tehran’s regional influence and control over key oil shipping lanes.
All six Gulf Cooperation Council states are strategic US partners. Several of them provided logistical support to Washington during the US-Israel war with Iran, and all suffered Iranian aerial attacks as a result. Now, some Gulf capitals are said to be privately disappointed and surprised by an interim deal that may open the door to US normalization with Iran — the very power most Sunni Gulf states see as their main regional threat.
