Motorists drive past a plume of smoke rising from a reported Iranian strike in the industrial district of Doha on March 1, 2026. (AFP)
The Trump administration is confronting mounting discontent from allies in the Persian Gulf who have complained they were not given adequate time to prepare for the torrent of Iranian drones and missiles bombarding their countries in retaliation for strikes launched by the U.S. and Israel.
Speaking to the Associated Press, officials from two Gulf countries said their governments were disappointed in the way the U.S. has handled the war, particularly the initial attack on Iran on Feb. 28.
They said their countries were not given advance notice of the U.S.-Israeli attack and complained the U.S. had ignored their warnings that the war would have devastating consequences for the entire region.
One of the officials said that Gulf countries were frustrated and even angry that the U.S. military has not defended them enough.
He said there is belief in the region that the operation has focused on defending Israel and the U.S. troops, while leaving Gulf countries to protect themselves and said that his country’s stock of interceptors was “rapidly depleting.”
The Financial Times also reported that pressure on the Gulf states’ budgets could cause them to review their overseas investments and future commitments as they consider options to ease the financial strain caused by the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.
Official reactions by the Gulf Arab countries have been muted, but public figures with close ties to their governments have been openly critical of the U.S., suggesting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dragged President Donald Trump into a needless war.
“This is Netanyahu’s war,” Prince Turki al-Faisal, the former Saudi intelligence chief, told CNN on Wednesday. “He somehow convinced the president [Trump] to support his views.”
The Gulf countries have emerged as valuable targets for Iran, well within the range of Iran’s short-range missiles and filled with targets, including the U.S. troops, high-profile business and tourist locations and energy facilities, disrupting the world’s flow of oil.
