Cartoon by Fares Garabet

US sidelines Europe and turns to Gulf to drive Iran nuclear talks

By Andrew England in London, Najmeh Bozorgmehr and Bita Ghaffari in Tehran

Financial Times: Gulf states have eclipsed Europe as central players in the US’s efforts to secure a new nuclear deal with Iran, a stark reversal of roles a decade after they were sidelined and frustrated by an earlier landmark agreement with Tehran.

In part, the shift underscores how US President Donald Trump’s pursuit of his America First policy, and marginalising of traditional European allies, has created space for middle powers in the Gulf and elsewhere to try and influence America’s foreign policy.

While the Obama administration engaged in a multilateral process involving the UK, Germany, France, Russia and China for the 2015 agreement, known by its acronym the JCPOA, Trump is in effect pushing for a bilateral agreement with the Islamic republic, seeking a quick deal and threatening military action if diplomacy fails.

But the change also reflects a marked détente between the Gulf’s powerhouses — Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — and Iran.

The Sunni states, who have for decades viewed the predominantly Shia republic as a hostile and destabilising rival, have sought to de-escalate tensions with Tehran and avoid another eruption of conflict in the Middle East.

As a consequence, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi have gone from being among the loudest cheerleaders of Trump’s decision to abandon the JCPOA in 2018 and impose “maximum pressure” on Iran to publicly backing diplomatic efforts to resolve the nuclear stand-off between Tehran and the west.

It means the Gulf states are leveraging their ties with Trump to act as important counterweights to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is lobbying for military action.

Ali Vaez, an Iran expert at Crisis Group, said the Gulf’s buy-in was a “game changer” because of their influence in Washington.

“In his first term, Trump had Netanyahu and MBS [Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman] advising against a deal with Iran,” Vaez said. “Now he has Saudi Arabia urging him to strike a deal with Iran, and MBS is more influential than Netanyahu, so it’s very important.”

The indirect talks between the Trump administration and Iran have been facilitated by Oman, which has long maintained good relations with Tehran and sought to position itself as a neutral power in the Middle East. Muscat hosted secret US-Iran talks between Tehran and the Obama administration in early 2013 before the negotiations became public and moved to Geneva and Vienna.

This time, Oman’s efforts are being supported by Qatar, a small nation that hosts Washington’s biggest military base in the region and retains strong ties with Iran.

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi met Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani in the days leading up to Trump’s trip to the Gulf last month.

Doha, often used as a conduit for messages between Washington and Tehran, then hosted Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian shortly after the US president left.

Crucially, Saudi Arabia — which restored relations with Iran in 2023 after a six-year hiatus — has added its weight to the Gulf’s push for peace.

In April, Prince Mohammed dispatched his brother and defence minister, Prince Khalid bin Salman, to Iran for talks with senior officials, including supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The highest ranking Saudi royal visit to the republic in decades, it was intended to underline Riyadh’s support for a deal between Iran and the US >>>