After Iran’s salvo hit their skylines, will Gulf states enter the war?

Gulf states face an impossible choice after Iranian attacks: remain passive, or risk being seen as fighting with Israel.

Doha, Qatar— When Iranian missiles slammed into Doha, Dubai and Manama over the weekend, they shattered more than glass and concrete – they also were a blow to the Gulf states’ carefully cultivated image as oases of stability, insulated from the crises and conflicts in the rest of the Middle East.

Now, countries in the region face what analysts describe as an impossible choice: strike back and risk being seen as fighting alongside Israel, or remain passive while their cities burn.

“For people and political leaders here, seeing Manama, Doha and Dubai bombed is as strange and unimaginable as seeing Charlotte, Seattle, or Miami bombed would be for Americans,” Monica Marks, a professor of Middle East politics at New York University Abu Dhabi, told Al Jazeera.

The attacks came as Iran retaliated against a massive joint US-Israeli assault that began on Saturday. The operation killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other senior military leaders, and struck military and government sites across Iran. A school was also hit, and at least 148 people were killed in that strike alone.

Tehran retaliated with missiles and drones targeting Israel and US military assets across the Gulf, killing at least three people in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where at least 58 people had been injured as of Sunday evening. Either missiles — or debris after they were intercepted — hit landmark buildings and the airport in Dubai, high-rises in Manama, and Kuwait’s airport, with smoke also seen billowing from some neighbourhoods in Doha. Saudi Arabia said Iran also struck Riyadh and its eastern region. Qatar said 16 people had been injured on its soil, while five people were injured in Oman, 32 in Kuwait and four in Bahrain.