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Firmesk Rahim, PhD Student, UMass Boston

Gulf state cooperation has long been shaped by the threat of Iran − but shows of unity belie division

Leaders attend the 45th Gulf Cooperation Council Summit in Kuwait City, Kuwait on Dec.01, 2024. Amiri Diwan of Kuwait/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images

Arab Gulf countries, battered economically and physically by the war with Iran, were keen to put on a united front at a key regional meeting on April 28, 2026.

Gathering in the Saudi city Jeddah, representatives of the Gulf Cooperation Council warned the Iranian government in Tehran that an attack on any one of its six members would be taken as an attack on all. Rejecting Iran’s claims to control of the Strait of Hormuz, Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani later described the summit as embodying “the unified Gulf stance” over the conflict.

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