Anxiety is spiking across the Gulf as President Donald Trump ramps up pressure on Iran, demanding a new nuclear deal while a U.S. carrier group surges into the region, leaving Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and others scrambling to talk Washington down from a strike that could light up their neighborhood first, Politico reported.
According to three people familiar with discussions between the administration and Gulf partners, the White House has offered little in the way of concrete assurances that it will follow their advice.
Instead, they say Trump's escalating public warnings, paired with the continued surge of U.S. naval and air assets toward the Gulf, has narrowed his own options, fueling a growing belief among regional officials that some form of strike on Iran is becoming increasingly hard to avoid.
U.S. allies and partners in the Middle East on Friday urged restraint from both the United States and Iran as the Trump administration warned of a possible strike, according to an Arab diplomat familiar with the matter.
Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Oman, and Qatar have all been in touch with leaders in Washington and Tehran to make the case that an escalation by either or both sides would cause massive destabilization throughout the region and affect energy markets, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private diplomatic discussions.
Arab and Muslim states in the region fear that any type of U.S. attack on Iran would prompt a response from Tehran that would, in the immediate term, likely be directed at them or American interests in their countries that could cause collateral damage, the official said.
Trump on Thursday told CBS News that he had conversations with Iran over the last few days, and that he planned to have more, adding: "We have a lot of very big, very powerful ships sailing to Iran right now, and it would be great if we didn't have to use them."
"I told them two things," Trump said about his contacts with Iran. "Number one, no nuclear. And number two, stop killing protesters."
On Friday, the president told reporters that Iran wanted to "make a deal."
"Hopefully, we'll make a deal. If we do make a deal, that's good. If we don't make a deal, we'll see what happens," he added.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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