Gulf States Turn to Iran as Hormuz Crisis Deepens

**WASHINGTON** — Energy markets reacted cautiously to the possibility of a diplomatic breakthrough. On Friday, Brent crude prices fell 2.9%, settling at $104.52 a barrel as traders weighed the potential for a partial restoration of Gulf oil shipments.

That prospect is tied to a temporary traffic-management protocol drafted by Oman and Iran, which would allow merchant ships to resume transit through the Strait of Hormuz. Oman has historically served as a neutral intermediary in Middle East diplomacy, frequently hosting backchannel negotiations between Western powers, Gulf states, and Iran.

The foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)—Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman—are scheduled to meet Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi on Monday, according to officials familiar with the matter. The meeting follows a deepening security crisis and the reluctance of key allies to intervene militarily, pushing Saudi Arabia and its Persian Gulf neighbors into direct negotiations with Iran over the blockaded waterway.

It will be the first collective diplomatic contact between Iran and the Gulf monarchies since the United States and Israel launched their military campaign against Tehran. Riyadh is dealing with severe disruptions to its energy infrastructure and a lack of direct military support from Washington and Islamabad.

Saudi Arabia’s 745-mile East-West Pipeline, also known as the Petroline, carries crude from the country’s eastern fields across the peninsula to the Red Sea port of Yanbu. The route was intended to let tankers bypass Hormuz entirely and sail through the Bab al-Mandab Strait, but Iranian-backed Houthi forces recently seized territory adjacent to that narrow passage connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. The Houthis have also launched strikes against the East-West Pipeline and Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea.

The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway between Oman and Iran through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s liquid petroleum passes, has been effectively closed to normal traffic. A U.S. naval blockade has prevented Iran from exporting its own crude oil, prompting Tehran to deploy drones and missiles against other exporters.

The U.S. military has escorted non-Iranian tankers through the strait, keeping Gulf exports at roughly two-thirds of their prewar levels. That naval assistance has mitigated global supply shocks while degrading Iran’s ability to use the strait as leverage. Iran responded by escalating its operations, launching missile salvos at U.S. military bases in the region and targeting American warships.

The diplomatic shift followed unsuccessful high-level appeals by Saudi Arabia for external military intervention. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman made two urgent phone calls to U.S. President Donald Trump, requesting American airstrikes against Houthi forces in Yemen. Trump declined, and U.S. officials indicated that the administration would limit its assistance to sharing intelligence and providing targeting data. The White House has sought to keep American military assets focused on containing Iran directly in the Strait of Hormuz, avoiding a secondary ground conflict in Yemen.

Islamabad has offered no military solution through its defense pact with Saudi Arabia. Pakistan has deployed troops near the Saudi-Yemeni border for defensive and training purposes, but its leadership has made clear that it will not engage the Houthis. Pakistan is heavily dependent on energy shipments transiting the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz, and its foreign ministry confirmed that no military response to the Houthi attacks is under consideration because military action could draw the country into a regional war and severely damage its relations with Tehran.

Pakistan’s army chief later held a phone call with Iranian Foreign Minister Araqchi, emphasizing the need for diplomatic de-escalation across all regional fronts. Iran and Oman, meanwhile, view GCC endorsement of the proposed shipping framework as necessary to pressure the United States into lifting its naval blockade on Iranian ports.

GCC states remain highly reluctant to accept any mechanism that could be interpreted as recognizing Iranian sovereign control or regulatory authority over the international waters of the Strait. Tehran has also maintained that a temporary shipping agreement will not produce a full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz until the United States honors the terms of a temporary ceasefire agreement reached between the two nations.