Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

U.S. Boast of Gulf Unity on Iran Undercut by Qatari Officials

U.S. Boast of Gulf Unity on Iran Undercut by Qatari Officials

Trump administration officials pushing the United Nations Security Council to extend an arms embargo on Iran have repeatedly boasted of a rare show of unity among Gulf allies backing the effort.

But officials from Qatar have been sending signals that the emirate, a neighbor and trading partner of Iran, is less enthusiastic than other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council about the letter backing the U.S. stance.

It’s a sign of the tensions surrounding the U.S. resolution to maintain the arms embargo against Iran, which is facing a vote that’s underway Friday. With U.S. allies in Europe among those resisting the resolution, it may not even win the nine votes that would force China and Russia to exercise their threatened vetoes.

U.S. officials have seized on the letter claiming support for the U.S. position by all six states in the GCC. Although the letter was signed only by Nayef Al-Hajraf, secretary general of the council. A cover letter transmitting it to the Security Council’s president also was signed by Amierah Alhefeiti, the UAE’s charge d’affaires. By then, a person familiar with the Qatari stance said, it was viewed as too late to demand changes.

Two Gulf officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the letter didn’t fully reflect Qatar’s view.

The discord first surfaced when Al Jazeera cited Mutlaq bin Majid Al-Qahtani, a senior Qatari foreign affairs official, as saying that collective decisions by the GCC typically follow meetings of the organization’s foreign ministers and that unilateral sanctions don’t lead to positive results.

“The continuation of policies of obstinacy and denial only lead to instability,” Al Qahtani said in the interview. That has led to tensions with other members of the GCC who back U.S. efforts to counter Iran’s influence in the region.

Asked whether Qatar was on board with the gulf alliance’s endorsement of the U.S. position, Brian Hook, the U.S. envoy for Iran, told reporters Thursday that “they have formally approved this letter, and that was the product of a lot of discussions.”

Sanctions Threat


The U.S. is facing criticism in the Security Council for its effort to extend the ban on arms dealings that’s due to expire in October. That’s partly because of the Trump administration’s threats that if the ban is allowed to lapse it will move to “snap back” international sanctions on Iran that were eased as part of the multinational nuclear deal that Trump quit in 2018.

Citing the “increasingly tense” discussions on Iran at the UN, Russian President Vladimir Putin is proposing an online conference of leaders from the five permanent members of the Security Council with Germany and Iran to discuss the future of the stalled 2015 pact on Iran’s nuclear program, according to a statement Friday on a Kremlin website.

The tiff over the Gulf council’s letter comes as the geopolitical map of the Mideast may be undergoing significant change. President Donald Trump announced Thursday that Israel and the United Arab Emirates, a member of the Gulf council, have reached an agreement to work toward fully normalized relations.

The letter from the Gulf Cooperation Council was a surprise because a number of Mideast nations led by Saudi Arabia have broken off relations with Qatar, accusing it of supporting terrorism.

“This rift has entered its fourth year,” Hook said. “This is the only significant statement the GCC has issued since the rift started, and I think it’s important for people to recognize the significance of this statement.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×