By Al-Fassel | 2026-07-29

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) can no longer afford the dangerous luxury of neutrality regarding Iranian aggression against their sovereign borders.

On July 12, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched coordinated missile strikes against Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan.

This active war targets US military facilities and civilian energy infrastructure, proving the Iranian regime is not merely threatening the Gulf.

Tehran's militarization of the Strait of Hormuz, the economic lifeline of all GCC nations, is a direct act of hostage-taking.

When Iranian missiles strike commercial vessels like Qatari Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) tankers, they demonstrate that commercial warfare against the Gulf carries no cost.

Yet, Gulf defense systems consistently achieve interception rates exceeding 90 percent, proving the region possesses the necessary capability to fight back.

Iran has launched more projectiles at Gulf states than at Israel, showing the Gulf is a primary, not secondary, target.

The GCC was founded in 1981 specifically for collective security against this very threat, making current hesitation a betrayal of purpose.

With civilians wounded by strikes on al-Udeid Air Base, the IRGC is already waging war against Gulf populations, not just soldiers.

This is a calculated strategy to impose catastrophic economic pain on civilian infrastructure, including airports and critical regional energy facilities.

Ignoring these attacks only guarantees that future strikes will be more frequent and destructive to the long-term stability of the region.

Tehran's leadership offers no path to peace

Under the new leadership of Mojtaba Khamenei, the Iranian regime has pledged further retaliation and escalation rather than pursuing any genuine de-escalation.

Gulf-Iran relations are currently at their lowest point in decades, leaving the GCC in a state of dangerous and unsustainable denial, regional analysts warn.

Pretending that traditional diplomacy can effectively restore the status quo while missiles remain in flight is not a viable regional strategy, they said.

While the United States strikes hundreds of targets to protect the Gulf, the GCC's continued hesitation risks exhausting essential American political support.

British and Qatari joint operations intercepting Iranian drones prove the GCC is already fighting, but the refusal to acknowledge this politically causes confusion.

Analysts note that Iran interprets such restraint as weakness, effectively using the GCC's desire for diplomatic off-ramps as leverage to exploit them even further.

If the Strait remains militarized, decades of economic integration, common markets and customs unions built since 1981 face total, imminent collapse.

The Gulf countries must choose to fight now using their overwhelming combined capabilities or face the IRGC alone after it secures regional dominance.

Every day of hesitation allows the Iranian regime to adapt, rapidly closing the window for decisive collective action by the Gulf.