Analysis: Why Trump’s Gulf allies are resisting pressure to join the Iran war | CNN

Since the Iran war began, Gulf states have faced a barrage of Iranian missiles and drones, leaving their leaders with an unenviable choice: anger their closest ally and security guarantor, or risk the wrath of a powerful neighbor they must live beside long after the war ends. Over the weekend, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards acknowledged that about 40% of its firepower had been directed at Israel, with the majority targeting its Arab neighbors instead. More than 2,000 projectiles have been fired at Gulf states. Both sides in the conflict appear to be using strikes on the Gulf to their advantage. Iran hopes that hitting Gulf states will drive them away from Washington, while the US and Israel appear to be using the Iranian attacks to pressure Arab governments to join the war. Kamal Kharrazi, a key foreign policy adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, told CNN that the strikes would continue in an effort to push Gulf states to persuade US President Donald Trump to step back from the conflict. Last week, Trump told CNN that seeing the United States’ Arab allies battered by Iran was the “biggest surprise” of the war, adding that the attacks prompted the Gulf states to “insist on bei