By Summer Said and Jared Malsin
U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf are inching toward joining the fight against Iran, getting tougher following persistent attacks that have disrupted their economies and risk giving Tehran long-term leverage over the Strait of Hormuz.
The recent steps support America's ability to carry out airstrikes and open up a new line of attack on Tehran's finances. They don't yet go as far as deploying their militaries openly in the fight, a line the Gulf's rulers have hoped not to cross, though pressure is building as Iran threatens to exert greater sway over the energy-rich region.
Saudi Arabia recently agreed to let American forces use its King Fahd air base on the western side of the Arabian Peninsula, people familiar with the decision said. The kingdom said ahead of the fighting that it wouldn't allow its facilities or airspace to be used for attacks on Iran, an attempt to stay out of the war that failed when Iran began raining missiles and drones down on important Saudi energy facilities and the capital, Riyadh.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is now eager to re-establish deterrence and is close to a decision to join the attacks, the people said. It is only a matter of time before the kingdom enters the war, one of the people said.
"Saudi Arabia's patience with Iranian attacks is not unlimited," Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan told reporters last week after a series of Iranian attacks on Gulf energy infrastructure. "Any belief that Gulf countries are incapable of responding is a miscalculation."
The United Arab Emirates, meanwhile, is starting to crack down on Iranian-owned assets, threatening a key lifeline for the rulers in Tehran, while it debates whether to send its military into the fight and lobbies against a cease-fire that leaves some of Iran's military capability intact.
It recently shut down the Iranian Hospital and Iranian Club in Dubai, people familiar with the shutdowns said. The hospital's phone numbers, WhatsApp channel and website were out of service Monday. Dubai health authorities said the facility was no longer operational.
"Certain institutions directly linked to the Iranian regime and IRGC will be closed under targeted measures after being found to have been misused to advance agendas that do not serve the Iranian people, and in violation of U.A.E. law," the government said, referring to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The U.A.E., which for years has been a financial hub for Iranian businesses and individuals, warned after coming under heavy attacks early in the war that it could freeze billions of dollars of Iranian holdings.
Such moves could significantly curb Tehran's access to foreign currency and global trade networks as its domestic economy buckles under inflation and sanctions. The shutdowns were reported earlier by AFP.
While the Gulf has said publicly it won't participate in attacks on Iran or let its airspace be used for the purpose, the reality is less clear.
Videos verified by Storyful, which is owned by News Corp, the parent company of The Wall Street Journal, indicate that some launches of ground-based missiles used to attack Iran came from Bahrain. Five U.S. Air Force refueling planes were hit by an Iranian missile strike and damaged on the ground at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, U.S. officials said.
The U.S. military declined to say whether Arab countries were helping in the fight, saying it would let Gulf countries speak for themselves.
The steps by the U.A.E. and Saudi Arabia show how Arab monarchies are being pulled deeper into the U.S. and Israeli offensive against Iran. It is a position they would rather not be in.
Directly attacking Iran would turn them into open combatants with a larger rival lying just across a narrow body of water. They could be at risk if President Trump were to suddenly call an end to the war and leave them to work out a more contentious relationship with Tehran on their own. They also worry any involvement would be symbolic and unlikely to change the course of the war.
But Iran is forcing their hand, most recently by asserting it wants a role in the operations of the Strait of Hormuz after the war. Iran has shut the crucial channel by attacking ships as they sail through but has allowed some favored ships to pass.
Tehran recently told Arab officials that it wanted to charge tolls as Egypt does with the Suez Canal, people familiar with the discussions said.
That threat to the region's energy lifeline came after Iran rained missiles and drones down on its Arab neighbors, attacking luxury hotels and airports as well as refineries and fuel depots. The U.A.E. alone has had to fend off more than 2,000 attacks.
The leaders of Gulf states, particularly the U.A.E. and Saudi Arabia, are pressing Trump in regular phone conversations to finish the job and destroy Iran's military capabilities before moving on, Arab officials said.
The moves also are convincing Arab states they might need to deliver some punishment to re-establish deterrence, people familiar with the matter said.
The bet that U.S. security assurances and diplomatic engagement with Iran would keep them safe has fallen apart. That conclusion became starkly apparent last week when Iran attacked Qatar's Ras Laffan energy hub along with strikes on a key Saudi Red Sea energy hub and facilities in Kuwait and the U.A.E.
Qatar condemned the attack as a dangerous escalation and a direct threat to its national security.
The Gulf states are unified in their anger with Iran, Arab officials said. But they are also angry at the realization they aren't able to exert much influence on the Trump administration's decisions despite being security partners and investing heavily in the relationship, they said.
Iran's attacks last week on important Arab energy facilities came in retaliation for an Israeli strike on Iran's most important gas field, South Pars. Arab states thought they had successfully lobbied the U.S. to prevent such attacks after an earlier Israeli strike on fuel depots in Tehran.
Instead, the U.S. allowed the strike on South Pars to go ahead after receiving advance notice from Israel, American and Israeli officials said.
The looming choice to start shooting is emblematic of the tough position the American allies find themselves in as a result of a conflict that has upended years of strategic planning while leaving no good options for moving ahead.
"They're just caught in this structural bind that weaker parties always have in an alliance with a stronger party," said Gregory Gause, an analyst of U.S.-Gulf ties at the Middle East Institute in Washington. "If the stronger party is taking bellicose positions, they're worried that they're going to be dragged into a war they don't want to fight."
Write to Summer Said at summer.said@wsj.com and Jared Malsin at jared.malsin@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 23, 2026 20:00 ET (00:00 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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