Qatar says Gulf stability can no longer be taken for granted amid US-Iran conflict

Qatar said Monday that Gulf stability can no longer be taken for granted amid the ongoing US-Iran conflict, warning that recent regional instability risks becoming a "new normal."

Speaking at the third Hili Forum in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi, Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari said recent developments had changed long-held assumptions about the Gulf remaining an "oasis of stability."

"We cannot take for granted the fact that this region will be the oasis of stability. That is no longer the reality," he said.

Al Ansari said Gulf countries must do everything possible to ensure the region remains an oasis of stability rather than accept the current situation.

He also said mediation between the US and Iran and any resulting agreements would not produce a lasting solution unless countries developed greater economic interdependence.

"Any solution, any deal that is signed, any mediation that will take place, nothing will happen beyond freezing the conflict unless there is real economic interdependency in the region, where the decision to disrupt our economies means disrupting your economy," he said.

Al Ansari said Gulf economies remain largely "siloed," even among allies and strategic partners, calling for greater economic interdependence within the Gulf and across the wider region.

Turning to the Strait of Hormuz, he noted that the strategic waterway was never closed, even during the 1980s Iran-Iraq war and warned that its current disruption had broken a "taboo" on weaponizing major international waterways.

"We might see it at a later stage in other straits around the world, in other waterways around the world, because the taboo has been broken," he said.

Al Ansari said a similar situation had already emerged in Bab el-Mandeb, warning that disruptions to international waterways could be repeated elsewhere if they became normalized.

He said one of the greatest dangers was that recent instability would increasingly be regarded as a "new normal" rather than a temporary crisis.

The disruption of the Strait of Hormuz, he added, should therefore not be viewed solely as an economic issue but as a broader challenge to international security and the global economy.

Al Ansari also said Gulf states had demonstrated resilience during the crisis, claiming that more than 90% of attacks against the Gulf had been deterred while countries had avoided major supply-chain disruptions.

He said no Gulf country had tapped into its reserves and that governments had taken measures to maintain supplies of energy and other commodities to international markets.

Al Ansari also called for Gulf states to strengthen their international messaging and "speak with one voice."

The third Hili Forum is being held in Abu Dhabi under the theme Gulf at Crossroads: Conflict, Consequences and Course Correction. It is co-organized by the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research and the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy.