Iran warns Gulf states they will be targeted if Trump pushes ahead with more US strikes

Iran has made a concerted diplomatic push with Gulf states, warning them explicitly that Tehran will hit their oil, power and water plants unless they convince Donald Trump to end US strikes on Iran and instead seek a negotiated end to the war. The warning envisaged attacks on the energy facilities, oil fields, refineries, electricity grids, water infrastructure, transport networks and other strategic assets of Washington's closest Arab allies, according to a senior Iranian official. US President Donald Trump told reporters that he believes the war with Iran would be over soon.

"I think it's going to end pretty soon. I don't think they can go much longer," Trump said in the Oval Office in a reference to Iran. The message, part of a broader Iranian effort to deter further US military action by raising the prospect of severe economic disruption across the Gulf, was delivered through a flurry of high-level diplomatic contacts after Trump threatened on July 28 to strike Iran's energy network and infrastructure, the sources said.

Two senior Iranian officials, two Gulf sources and a senior regional diplomat with knowledge of the discussions said Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi spoke with his Saudi, Turkish and Qatari counterparts, as well as Pakistan's army chief. All spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. Araqchi urged Washington's Gulf allies to use their influence with Trump to dissuade him from launching renewed strikes, the senior diplomat said, warning that any attack on Iran would prompt retaliation against US assets and critical infrastructure across the Gulf.

His message was consistent in every conversation, the diplomat said: "We're ready to retaliate, but finding a diplomatic solution is the best way to avoid wider escalation and destruction across the region." "The Iranian warning was unequivocal: if America targeted Iran's infrastructure, they would retaliate by striking Gulf energy facilities and other regional targets," one Gulf source said. The diplomatic campaign underscores how Iran is seeking to turn Gulf vulnerability into leverage, confronting regional governments with the prospect that any renewed US-Iran confrontation could place the infrastructure underpinning their economies directly in the firing line. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman subsequently spoke with Trump, urging him to delay milit…