Iran’s targeting of airport, ports and hotels in reaction to US strikes has forced Gulf nations onto front lines of a war they want no part in
- Written by Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, Fellow for the Middle East at the Baker Institute, Rice University
A yacht sails past a plume of smoke rising from the port of Jebel Ali following a reported Iranian strike in Dubai on March 1, 2026.Fadel Senna/AFP via Getty ImagesWashington’s allies in the Persian Gulf have found themselves in a position they have long sought to avoid: on the front line and bearing the brunt of a widening Middle East...

