Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s public message to Gulf states, explicitly linking their security and development to their stance on hosting enemy military forces, marks what many observers see as a new phase in the regional war. Delivered more than a month into the Iran-US conflict, the statement reflects a deliberate shift in Tehran’s approach to its neighbours. Iran is clearly entering a new phase of its strategy that elevates diplomatic pressure to match its military operations.
Gulf nations including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, and Oman have been central to the conflict through their hosting of US military infrastructure. Iranian retaliatory strikes against those nations have created a cycle of violence that defines the current phase of the war. Gulf governments are now confronting the reality that the war has entered their own territory in a meaningful and sustained way.
Pezeshkian posted on X to communicate Iran’s firm but measured military stance while marking the beginning of this new diplomatic phase with a direct appeal to Gulf leaders. He warned them that development and security were incompatible with hosting enemy military operations, and that a new approach was necessary. The deliberate marking of a new phase was significant.
Pakistan’s diplomatic initiative has grown in importance throughout the conflict, with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif serving as an effective and trusted intermediary. Sharif’s meeting with Pezeshkian confirmed that Iran sees trust as the foundational requirement for any formal peace process. Pakistan’s contributions have been praised by Tehran.
A major multilateral diplomatic consultation in Pakistan is assembling the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Turkey for strategic deliberations on the conflict. Their discussions with Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Prime Minister Sharif aim to develop a coordinated regional approach to ending the war. The talks are being described as one of the most consequential diplomatic events of the conflict so far.