Iran · updated 1h ago · 3 min read
Qatar’s Majed Al-Ansari Says Iran War Shows US Alliance Is Not Enough
Iran war proven US alliance alone cannot guarantee Gulf security. Gulf states must diversify security beyond US presence and build self-sufficiency.
Whether Qatar/others pressed beyond alliance messaging towards operational security reforms.
11 of 12 outlets skipped it: qatar frames deterrence failures as aided by lack of international accountability.
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مميدل ايست اونلاين
“reduce reliance on American power by developing more integrated air and rocket defense systems”
Translated from the original.
Read the original ↗The Arab Weekly
“Self-sufficiency when it comes to security is the only way forward, Ansari said.”Read the original ↗
One outlet adds concrete capability steps; others keep the message at principle level.
Qatar challenges US security
Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said the Iran war showed Gulf Arab states should not depend only on their strategic partnership with the United States for security, speaking at the Hili forum in Abu Dhabi on Monday.
“Self-sufficiency when it comes to security is the only way forward”
Al-Ansari told the panel that “having international forces in the region, having a strategic alliance with the US is very important but is not enough,” and he argued that “Self-sufficiency when it comes to security is the only way forward.”
The articles place Qatar at the center of the US-Iran conflict as a mediator, noting that Qatar has also sustained heavy Iranian attacks, especially on its energy infrastructure.
They also describe the war after six months as a stalemate, with Iran disrupting traffic in the strategic Strait of Hormuz and the US pressing a counter-blockade of Iranian ports.
Last month, Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani traveled to Tehran as part of mediation efforts after Iran and Oman said they were discussing a temporary shipping corridor and mine-clearing.
Voices at the Hili Forum
At the Hili Forum in Abu Dhabi, Majed al-Ansari framed the US alliance as important but insufficient, telling the audience that “having a strategic alliance with the United States, is very important, but is not enough.”
The Saudi Gazette described his remarks as stressing “the importance of Gulf unity amid threats such as the conflict in Iran,” while also quoting his call that Gulf states “cannot depend on them alone for our security.”
The Jerusalem Post added a separate UAE perspective from Anwar Gargash, who said the UAE is building alternative routes for energy exports and trade so they are not “held hostage” by the US-Iran war in the Strait of Hormuz.
Gargash warned that rebuilding trust after attacks could take decades, saying “rebuilding trust is another matter,” and he argued that the problem was translating shared understanding into “a sufficiently united and strategic response.”
What comes next
The articles connect Qatar’s push for self-sufficiency to the ongoing impact of the US-Iran conflict on Gulf security and vital sea routes, describing Iran disrupting navigation through the Strait of Hormuz and the US imposing a counter-blockade of Iranian ports.
“but both arrangements have since collapsed”
They also say Qatar and other Gulf states condemned Iran’s strikes on energy and other infrastructure across the region, and Middle East Eye links that stance to Qatar’s role in brokering an April ceasefire and a June memorandum of understanding between Iran and the US that “have since collapsed.”
The Jerusalem Post reports that the UAE suspended all financial and economic transactions with the Islamic Republic in August, citing military escalation by Tehran and missile threats, and it frames Hormuz as a central obstacle in negotiations between Washington and Tehran.
Gargash told the Hili Forum that “Freedom of navigation is not a concession to be granted, nor a principle to be renegotiated under pressure,” and he said any long-term resolution must include credible guarantees against further Iranian attacks on Gulf Arab states.
Across the coverage, Qatar’s mediation efforts and its insistence on security self-sufficiency are presented alongside the continuing stalemate after six months, with the strait’s status and maritime movement remaining central to the conflict’s consequences.