Dubai: US allies in the Persian Gulf have loudly pushed for hawkish policies by Washington to pressure, isolate and cripple Iran, but this high-stakes strategy is now being put to the test by the unexpected US strike that killed Iran's most powerful military commander last week, thrusting the region closer to full-blown conflict.
Even as Gulf Arab states like Israel lobbied hard for tough U.S. sanctions and maximum pressure on Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have wanted to avoid outright war.
Friday's airstrike that killed the Revolutionary Guard's powerful Quds Force commander, Qassem Soleimani, appears to have caught America's Gulf allies off-guard.
Now they are trying to make sure the major escalation by President Donald Trump doesn't drag them further into the cross-hairs of rising tensions between Washington and Tehran.
Iran, which held an unprecedented multi-city funeral procession for Soleimani that drew millions to the streets to mourn him, retaliated early Wednesday by firing a series of ballistic missiles at two military bases in Iraq where American troops are stationed.
Trump signaled he would not retaliate militarily, but vowed to continue his campaign of maximum pressure and economic sanctions on Iran. As the region braces for what comes next, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are calling for de-escalation.
Saudi Arabia dispatched Deputy Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman to Washington, where he met with Trump and the US president's son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner at the White House on Monday.
The kingdom says he discussed efforts to reduce tensions and avoid escalations that could further destabilize the region in light of the Iranian regime's provocations and destabilizing activities. Qatar's foreign minister, meanwhile, traveled to Tehran the day after the killing of Soleimani and also called for de-escalation.
Nobody wants the outbreak of conventional war because when conventional war happens there are no winners, there are just a series of losers, said Mohammed Alyahya, the Saudi editor-in-chief of the Al-Arabiya English news website.
This latest round of tensions has pushed oil prices up, with Brent crude trading around USD 70 a barrel.