Iran is a lot more popular in the Middle East right now than the U.S. From Sean Matthews at middleeasteye.net:
Exclusive: US scrambled Jet Fighters from Qatar and Saudi Arabia to fend off Iranian attack, but Arab Gulf states unwilling to jeopardise reconciliation with Iran
A man walks past a banner depicting missiles launching from a representation of the map of Iran coloured with the Iranian flag, in central Tehran, on 15 April 2024 (Atta Kenare/AFP)
The Islamic Republic’s Saturday attack on Israel was a made-for social media moment. It was also the ultimate test of US efforts to cobble together a coalition of Arab states and Israel in a so-called Middle East Nato, to jointly defend an attack from Tehran.
Israel, the US, France, the UK, and Jordan managed to intercept around 99 percent of the drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles fired at Israel by Iran in retaliation for an attack on its embassy in Damascus, Syria.
Radar and early warning systems that the US maintains at its military bases across the Gulf were instrumental in tracking the slow-moving armada of missiles and drones, current and former US, Israeli and Arab officials told MEE, adding that the US was able to scramble jet fighters from Saudi Arabia and Qatar at the last minute to particpate in the operation.
But in the end, the oil-rich Gulf states downplayed any involvement and left the heavy lifting of fighting off Iran’s attack to the US, its western allies and Jordan, the resource-poor Hashemite Kingdom dependent on US financial assistance.
For its part, Jordan cast its role actively downing Iranian drones as self-defence and not related to protecting Israel.
“There was unprecedented cooperation between Israel, the US and the Jordanians,” Michael Milshtein, a former Israeli military intelligence officer, told Middle East Eye. “But calling this a coalition is an illusion.”
Middle East Eye reported on Friday that the Gulf monarchies were shutting down US options to launch strikes against Iran in the event Washington felt the need to retaliate against Tehran’s attack on Israel. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman, and Kuwait all scrutinised their basing agreements with Washington to do the bare minimum that was required and avoid being involved in direct strikes on Iranian targets.
Der Friedensstifter 