The high stakes in maintaining the Iran-Israel ceasefire

Arab News

5 hours ago

https://arab.news/p72z2
The Gulf Cooperation Council foreign ministers met in Doha on Tuesday to express solidarity with Qatar a day after it was attacked by Iran. Although the missile attack did not cause any casualties or substantial material damage, it was unprecedented. It was the first military attack by Iran against Qatar and probably the first time Qatar was attacked in recent memory.
The foreign ministers' gathering was the second emergency meeting in as many weeks. Under GCC rules, the Ministerial Council, the official name for foreign ministers' meetings, meets four times a year in regular sessions, but it can meet any time in emergency sessions.
The previous meeting on June 16 was convened to discuss Israel's attack on Iran. At that meeting, the GCC ministers expressed support for Iran and roundly condemned the Israeli attacks — and Qatar was among the most enthusiastic supporters. Over the decades, Doha has cultivated a close rapport with Tehran, while maintaining good relations with the US, which maintains one of its largest military bases in the country.
Qatar has frequently mediated between Iran and the US and, as such, Iran's missile attack on Monday was surprising. The foreign ministers unequivocally condemned Tehran's action and rejected its justifications. Under the Mutual Defense Treaty of 2000, the GCC states are committed to providing maximum support to any member subjected to external aggression, a commitment that was renewed on Tuesday, as the council stressed that the GCC countries' security is 'indivisible' and that an attack on one state is an attack on all of them. They also praised Qatar's ability to thwart the attack and eliminate nearly all the missiles Iran launched against it.
Trump received high praise from the GCC ministers for arranging a halt to the 12-day Iran-Israel war
Dr. Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg
US President Donald Trump received high praise from the GCC ministers for arranging a halt to the 12-day Iran-Israel war. The sudden turnaround in America's approach to the conflict was as decisive as it was surprising. Trump gave a rare public rebuke of Israel's prime minister after Netanyahu violated the ceasefire — as has been his modus operandi on other similar occasions. The cessation of hostilities provides an opportunity to return to the nuclear talks between Iran and the US, which were hosted and facilitated by Oman and which were disrupted by Israel's attack on Iran on June 13.
The US' success in stopping this war is testimony to the tremendous influence it has in this region and the diplomatic skills of Trump and his team, especially Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff. The president rarely gets praise for subtle diplomacy, but his muscular handling of this conflict has been effective.
The nuclear negotiations, when they resume, can build on this momentum and America's newfound decisiveness. They will also be helped by the June 12 findings by the International Atomic Energy Agency regarding Iran's breaches of its commitments to the agency and the nonproliferation regime. The IAEA's decision to find Iran in noncompliance, the first in two decades, would anchor the talks in verified facts by an independent UN agency, not the accusations of an adversary, as Tehran has dismissed similar charges in the past. The talks now have a better chance of success as the US has probably re-ascertained that military action cannot end Iran's nuclear ambitions.
This is an opportunity that should not be dismissed, because the alternatives are all bleak. The informal truce remains fragile and would become even more so if there were to be a lack of progress on nuclear diplomacy. A return to the Israel-initiated war would be futile in achieving an end to Iran's nuclear program and destructive to the regional path toward diplomacy, which the GCC embarked on with Iran in recent years.
Similarly, if Iran decides to go nuclear (militarily), other states in the region could do the same, launching a nuclear arms race that could threaten both regional and international peace and security. It could also isolate Iran further, similar to North Korea, and impoverish its people, as funds for development would get diverted to military spending. The sanctions would remain, making it difficult for Iran to reintegrate into the international economy. Equally important, proposals for regional integration between Iran and the GCC states would probably have to be shelved.
The cessation of hostilities provides an opportunity to return to the nuclear talks between Iran and the US
Dr. Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg
Building on Trump's success in arranging the Iran-Israel ceasefire, the GCC ministers called on him to use his influence to end the war on Gaza. The US should not support Israel's sadistic policies of siege, starvation and mass executions of helpless Gazans seeking the scraps of food dangled before them by Israel's agents, only to get mowed down in their scores every day. This deliberate extermination of innocent women and children will forever be a stain on Israel and those who support it or fail to stop it.
The stakes in securing a sustained ceasefire could not be higher. The GCC ministers pointed to the possible disruption of supply chains if the conflict were to continue and stressed the need to safeguard passageways and waterways and secure energy supplies from the region, which possesses about half the world's supply of oil and a quarter of its gas supply.
Success on the nuclear track would also help accelerate other diplomatic efforts, including Gaza and the overall Israel-Palestine conflict. GCC-Iran talks, bilaterally and collectively, could also move faster, bringing the region closer to peace, stability and shared prosperity.
As close friends of the US, the GCC ministers cheered President Trump for the ceasefire deal and hoped for more successes. He will undoubtedly edge closer to his goal of getting a Nobel Peace Prize if he and his team continue on this path of successfully mediating regional conflicts.