By Noureddine Omar | 2026-03-29

The Gulf states face unprecedented security and military tension driven by the escalating conflict between the Iranian regime, the United States and Israel.

Several states in the region faced intense Iranian missile barrages in recent weeks, striking civilian facilities and causing significant loss of life and property damage.

Consequently, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has shifted to employing its alternative instruments: the sleeper cells covertly embedded within these states.

"Sleeper cells, comprising host-nation citizens and Lebanese operatives, have mobilized across the Gulf to gather and relay intelligence, having been established over the past several years for clandestine activities," Sheyar Turko, an expert on the IRGC told Al-Fassel.

A greater threat than drones

The real danger isn't drones or missiles, but the regime activating more sleeper cells as its control weakens, a Kuwaiti media source told an Israeli broadcaster.

This move poses a direct threat to Gulf security and raises the specter of potential assassinations, the source said, on March 17.

Amid persistent confrontations, fears grow within the Gulf that undiscovered groups may commit internal sabotage, aligning with the Iranian regime's strategy to destabilize the region.

"The discovery of Iranian cells in several countries, including Bahrain, Kuwait and the UAE, confirms a premeditated plan to utilize these assets in the ongoing conflict, revealing the Iranian regime's true, hostile intentions toward those states," Turko said.

On March 15, Bahrain's Ministry of Interior announced the arrest of five individuals for relaying precise, sensitive intelligence to the IRGC.

Similarly, on March 16, the Kuwaiti Ministry of Interior dismantled a cell linked to Lebanese Hizbullah, comprising 16 individuals, including 14 Kuwaitis and two Lebanese.

The Ministry reported that security agencies seized weapons "intended for assassination operations" and drones from the cell members.

The Ministry noted that the cell was intended to carry out hostile acts within Kuwait, according to preliminary investigations.

Destructive intentions

"The discovery of IRGC and Hizbullah-affiliated cells in Gulf states exposes the Iranian regime's true, destructive intentions," Zeina Mahmoud, a researcher specializing in international affairs, told Al-Fassel.

This starkly contrasts the false rhetoric of Iranian politicians regarding "fraternal ties and cordial relations" with Gulf states, she said.

"Furthermore, Iran's violation of Gulf states' airspace constitutes an explicit declaration of war, one that will undoubtedly have far-reaching repercussions," Mahmoud added.

The current conflict has utterly exposed the IRGC's hypocrisy and shattered its claims of respecting state sovereignty.

It poses a threat to Gulf nations by intensively targeting civilian infrastructure and vital energy supply lines, and by activating terrorist sleeper cells.