Active Neutrality of Sheikhdoms in Trump's Possible Tension with Tehran / Pezeshkian's Phone Conversation with 10 Arab Countries

In an unprecedented move, the Iranian president spoke by phone with the heads of 10 Arab countries. This symbolic action in the back-and-forth atmosphere of Iranian and American responses to Trump's letter reflects a new dimension of the Islamic Republic of Iran's neighborly and Arab diplomacy in the Middle East.

At the same time, these calls show that Tehran and the Arab states of the Middle East are trying to protect their regional relations from the risk of descending into crisis by calculating the tensions created by the United States.

As the Middle East Eye website wrote in an analysis, Arab governments, especially in the Persian Gulf, have informed Trump that they will refrain from providing any bases and forces to the United States for any action against Iran, a move that shows that any accompaniment to the maximum pressure project can put Arab neighbors at the forefront of tensions between Tehran and Washington.

Unlike Trump's first term, when some Arab neighbors accompanied Trump in his policy of pressure on Iran, this time, however, the Persian Gulf sheikhdoms have changed their priorities and announced that they will be neutral in the U.S. conflict with Iran.

However, this neutrality is not only negative, but will have a positive and active dimension, and Iran's southern neighbors will even go further and seek mediation.

Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates have demonstrated this dimension of new diplomacy with Iran over the past years and weeks, and other actors, including Saudi Arabia, are likely to step up their efforts in the coming months, assuming that the level of tension increases, a policy that would represent a meaningful shift from pursuing to active neutrality.