Gulf States Caught Off Guard by Speed of Israel’s Iran Attack
They spent years working toward a detente with their historical enemy. Now they’re contemplating a conflict that could jeopardize their oil infrastructure, hamper their ambitious economic plans and destabilize the region.
Smoke from the Shahran oil depot, following a missile strike northwest of Tehran, on June 16.
Photographer: Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty ImagesTakeaways by Bloomberg AI
Forty-eight hours before Israel struck Iran last week, Tehran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, met his Saudi counterpart at an annual retreat for diplomats in Norway.
At a hotel in a forested estate outside Oslo, Araghchi briefed Prince Faisal Bin Farhan on the progress of US nuclear talks, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter who were not authorized to discuss sensitive subjects. There, Prince Faisal repeated what his country had told Iran for months, including during Defense Minister Prince Khalid Bin Salman’s visit to Tehran in April: Israel wants to attack you; reach a deal with the Americans fast.