Iran to Meet Gulf States in UN-Backed Muscat Summit Amid Mideast Fighting

Iran Will Meet With Gulf Arab States as Mideast Conflict Widens The United Nations‑backed summit slated for tomorrow in Muscat has taken on a new urgency, as Iranian officials confirmed they will sit down with representatives from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. The talks come amid a rapid escalation of hostilities that now span Iraq, Syria and the Red Sea, and follow weeks of stalled diplomatic overtures between Tehran and Washington. Sources close to the negotiations said the agenda will focus on a cease‑fire in Yemen, the release of detained dual nationals and a framework for a broader regional security dialogue..

Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amir‑Abdollahian, addressed reporters in Tehran on Tuesday, insisting that “the path to peace must be paved by dialogue, not by the roar of missiles.” He added that Iran’s support for the Houthi rebels in Yemen is “defensive” and that Tehran is prepared to halt shipments of weapons to the group if a credible guarantee of Yemen’s sovereignty is secured. Analysts note that this is the first time Iran has publicly linked its Yemeni policy to a multilateral diplomatic process involving Gulf Arab states. The Gulf coalition, which has been conducting air strikes against Houthi positions since late 2023, welcomed the prospect of a direct Iranian presence at the table..

A senior Saudi official, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the meeting as “a historic opportunity to break the dead‑lock that has plagued our region for years.” He warned, however, that any agreement must be “backed by concrete actions on the ground,” signalling that the coalition expects a swift cessation of Houthi missile launches into Saudi shipping lanes. In Washington, the State Department released a brief statement acknowledging the talks but underscoring that “the United States remains committed to a peaceful resolution of the Yemen conflict, consistent with international law and the sovereignty of the Yemeni people.” The statement stopped short of offering direct participation, reflecting the Biden administration’s current strategy of leveraging regional actors rather than leading the negotiations themselves. The timing of the Muscat summit coincides with a marked advance of Iranian‑aligned militias in Yemen’s central highlands..

Satellite imagery released by a coalition monitoring group on Monday showed a new network of artillery positions near the strategic town of Marib, a key gateway to the capital, Sanaa. Yemeni government officials warned that any escalation could jeopardise the fragile cease‑fire that has held in the south since early 2024, and could trigger a humanitarian catastrophe in an already famine‑stricken country. Humanitarian agencies on the ground have sounded the alarm..

The United Nations World Food Programme estimates that over 5 million Yemenis now face acute food insecurity, a figure that could rise sharply if fighting resumes in the Marib region. “We are on the brink of a disaster,” said a senior UN coordinator in Sana’a, urging all parties to respect the humanitarian corridors that have been painstakingly negotiated over the past year. The coordinator also called on the upcoming talks to include a binding pledge to protect aid convoys..

Iran’s domestic political landscape adds another layer of complexity. President Ebrahim Raisi, who has been in office for just over a year, faces growing pressure from hard‑line elements within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to maintain a firm stance against Gulf rivals. Yet, recent parliamentary debates have highlighted a split, with some lawmakers advocating for a diplomatic pivot to alleviate the crippling sanctions that have choked Iran’s economy..

The upcoming talks could therefore serve as a barometer for Iran’s internal power dynamics. In the United Arab Emirates, the foreign ministry has emphasized its role as a mediator, noting that Abu Dhabi has hosted back‑channel discussions between Tehran and Riyadh for months. An Emirati diplomat told reporters that “the UAE is ready to facilitate a comprehensive security architecture that addresses maritime safety, counter‑terrorism and the reconstruction of war‑torn areas.” This reflects Dubai’s broader strategy of positioning itself as a diplomatic hub, a role it has cultivated since the Abraham Accords opened new channels of communication across the region..

Meanwhile, the conflict’s widening impact is being felt beyond the Gulf. European Union officials have warned that renewed fighting could disrupt the Red Sea shipping route, a lifeline for global trade that carries an estimated 10 percent of the world’s oil. The EU’s foreign policy chief has called for an “immediate de‑escalation” and offered to dispatch a monitoring mission to the Bab al‑Mandeb strait should the parties agree to a cease‑fire..

Such a move would mark the first EU‑led security deployment in the region since the early 2000s. The United Nations Security Council is expected to convene a special session later this week to assess the situation. Past resolutions on Yemen have repeatedly called for an inclusive political process, but enforcement mechanisms have remained weak..

A senior UN diplomat hinted that the council might consider new sanctions on entities that supply weapons to Houthi forces, a step that could further strain Iran’s already tenuous economic ties with the West. Experts caution that the Muscat talks, while symbolically important, may not resolve the underlying strategic rivalries that drive the conflict. Dr Leila Al‑Hassan, a professor of Middle Eastern studies at the American University of Beirut, argued that “without addressing the broader contest for regional hegemony, any cease‑fire will be fragile.