GCC chief says Gulf states were attacked despite not joining Iran war, calls for restoring Hormuz navigation
Gulf Cooperation Council Secretary-General Jasem AlBudaiwi told the Manama Dialogue on Saturday that GCC states were attacked despite not taking part in the war against Iran, and urged the international community to restore normal navigation through Hormuz and Bab al-Mandeb.
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary-General Jasem Mohamed AlBudaiwi has told the Manama Dialogue that GCC states were subjected to attacks despite not taking part in the war against Iran, and that the security of the Gulf states is indivisible. He was speaking on Saturday at the 22nd Regional Security Summit, the IISS Manama Dialogue 2026, in the Bahraini capital, during its third plenary session on the pillars of regional security.
“GCC countries were subjected to Iranian attacks targeting civilian and vital infrastructure, despite not participating in the war and their efforts toward mediation and restraint,” AlBudaiwi said, in remarks carried by Al Jazeera’s live coverage and Dawn’s live updates, and reported in full by the Gulf Times. He said the attacks had resulted in casualties and had tested the foundations of regional security since 28 February, when the wider conflict began.
The context, as set out in Al Jazeera’s live coverage, is that since the war began Iran has attacked United States military facilities in eight countries, including the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain, bases in Kuwait and Jordan and sites in Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan. Early in the war, Gulf countries also reported Iranian strikes on civilian infrastructure, including airports in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Erbil, as well as hotels and energy facilities.
AlBudaiwi set out five pillars for building a sustainable regional security architecture: strict adherence to international law and respect for state sovereignty, bolstering collective defence systems, prioritising diplomatic tracks, safeguarding the security of waterways and energy supplies, and cementing development and international partnerships. The Gulf Times reported that he underlined that the stability of the Arabian Gulf region constitutes a fundamental pillar of international peace and security.
A central part of his argument concerned shipping. AlBudaiwi said the repercussions of the attacks were not limited to the region but extended to the global economy through disruption to navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, through which approximately one-quarter of the world’s seaborne oil trade passed before the crisis. Sabq’s report of the same address added that the disruption affected energy prices, shipping and insurance costs, and supply chains.
“Disrupting navigation in the Straits of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandeb poses a threat to global economic interests. The international community must restore normal maritime traffic and hold those responsible for the attacks accountable,” AlBudaiwi said, according to Al Jazeera and Dawn. He described negotiations as “the steadfast option” for resolving regional crises, while insisting that successful diplomacy requires mutual will and a responsible response from all parties.
He also condemned attacks by the Houthis on Saudi Arabia since last July, extending to Makkah and Madinah, which Sabq reported him as describing as a violation of Islamic holy sites and a serious escalation threatening regional security. The point connects the Gulf’s concerns to the wider pattern of strikes on Saudi targets that has run through recent weeks, including coalition reports of missiles and drones aimed at Saudi cities.
AlBudaiwi pointed to United Nations Security Council Resolution 2817, issued on 11 March 2026 and proposed by Bahrain on behalf of the GCC and Jordan, which Sabq noted was co-sponsored by 136 countries. The resolution, in his telling, is evidence of the breadth of international backing for the Gulf position, and of the argument that Gulf security cannot be treated as a purely regional question.
The address came during a Manama Dialogue at which the Gulf’s shifting security arrangements have been a running theme. Earlier sessions heard Syria’s foreign minister say Damascus was weighing whether to join the Makkah defence pact binding Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye, and Britain confirm air-defence support for Saudi Arabia and Gulf partners, both developments already reported on News Orbit Live. AlBudaiwi’s speech framed those discussions within a broader claim: that the six GCC states, whatever their individual responses, now act as a single security space.
What happens next will depend on whether the diplomatic track he championed gains traction. Qatar and Pakistan have been mediating between Washington and Tehran, with a reported draft framework proposing uranium transfers and a reopening of Hormuz within seven days of an initial understanding, and a United States delegation expected in Doha. AlBudaiwi’s message to that process was twofold: negotiations remain the way out, but they must also protect navigation, respect sovereignty and account for attacks on states that, in his words, neither sought the war nor joined it.
