By: Marcus Alexander

In a potential seismic shift in Middle Eastern geopolitics, major Gulf economies are reportedly considering withdrawing from contracts with the United States and reviewing future investment commitments to alleviate economic strain from the ongoing war with Iran.

The claims, which originated in a post on X by user Sulaiman Ahmed, suggest that Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Qatar are discussing measures to reduce their financial exposure to the U.S. economy. According to the post, which cites an anonymous official, the move is a direct response to “the economic strain imposed upon them by the Iran war.

These assertions are supported by a report published by Reuters on March 5, 2026, citing the Financial Times. The report confirms that Gulf states are indeed considering invoking force majeure clauses in current contracts and reviewing investment pledges made to the United States.

The decision appears to stem from a combination of reduced revenues and increased spending. The anonymous official cited in the original post noted that these countries face budget strains due to “reduced income from energy… the slowdown in output or the inability to ship,” as well as hits to the tourism and aviation sectors and a spike in defense spending.

This context is validated by broader economic analysis. JPMorgan recently trimmed its 2026 non-oil growth outlook for Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) economies, pointing to rising regional risks following the latest escalation between the U.S., Israel, and Iran.

Strategists noted that economic life slowed sharply in major hubs like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Doha, raising near-term downside risks for services and broader non-oil activity.

Similarly, Fitch Ratings warned that while Gulf sovereigns can weather a short conflict, prolonged fighting or damage to energy infrastructure could threaten credit ratings. The agency noted that the Strait of Hormuz is effectively closed due to security threats, impacting energy exports.

Force Majeure and the Legal Context

The mention of “force majeure” is significant. A force majeure clause is a contractual provision that allows parties to be released from their obligations when extraordinary events beyond their control occur.

According to legal analysis from Aqran Vijandran Advocates & Solicitors, recent developments in the Middle East have placed force majeure at the centre of commercial contracts again, much like during the COVID-19 pandemic. Companies like QatarEnergy and Aluminium Bahrain have reportedly already invoked force majeure in response to the conflict.

Impact on US Relations and Global Investments

The financial stakes are immense. The original post correctly notes that these nations manage some of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds and, following President Donald Trump’s visit to the region last year, pledged hundreds of billions of dollars in U.S. investments. A review of these commitments would likely catch the attention of the White House.

An adviser to a Gulf government, cited in the original text, confirmed that the prospect of such a review has already raised concerns in Washington. The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace observed that the Gulf states are confronting the limits of their ability to spend their way to influence at the White House, noting that President Trump appears unwilling to reshape his war-forward outlook despite Gulf opposition.

The potential redirection of Gulf capital extends beyond the United States. According to Semafor, the Middle East crisis risks upending burgeoning Gulf-Africa ties. Gulf nations have invested over $100 billion in Africa across energy, ports, and tech sectors, serving as a counterweight to Western and Chinese influence. However, sovereign wealth funds that have been pouring money into African projects may now redirect their attention and capital toward immediate domestic priorities and defense.

While the initial X post by Sulaiman Ahmed brought attention to the matter, the narrative is now backed by reports from major financial news outlets. Gulf states find themselves in an increasingly untenable position, caught between Iran’s retaliatory strikes and their security alliance with the U.S.

As budget strains mount and civilian infrastructure comes under fire, the wealthy Gulf monarchies appear to be considering economic self-preservation measures that could fundamentally alter their relationship with the United States and the global economy

Via https://www.facebook.com/groups/1021186047913052/

By Martin Jay | Strategic Culture Foundation | March 9, 2026

After just a week into Donald Trump’s war, there is very little to report which should or could please the U.S. president. Much of America’s infrastructure in the Middle East has been destroyed with U.S. soldiers now housed by hotels in Gulf states as there is nothing left of their bases. The stocks that these countries have as part of their air defence systems is almost depleted as military chiefs argue about how quickly they can be replaced (some THAAD and Patriot systems are being shipped from Japan and South Korea) and Iran is hitting Israel harder and harder each day.

Of course, due to the new draconian rules which Israel has imposed — that no military strikes that Iran succeeds in carrying out can be ‘reported’ on by journalists or even citizens who wish to post it on social media — as well as the comically corrupt, partisan way U.S. news outlets are covering the war, very little bad news gets seen by the public, if any.

Under this set up, it is hardly surprising that Trump went to war, given that he must have factored in a great deal of support from U.S. media, whom he claims to despise. In this regard, we can conclude that media itself is complicit in war crimes, given that it has played a huge role in the decision to go to war and also the day to day reporting of events on the ground.

A good example of the few points of the war which are reported, but done in such a distorted way, is the news that Iran has stopped its bombing of GCC Gulf states. This has been presented as a victory by the U.S. and a climb down by Iran. The truth though is that it is a considerable victory for Tehran as what is not being reported or even examined is the deal that Iran has struck with those countries.

None of those countries will allow any kind of military activity now by U.S. forces there, which means the thousands of U.S. soldiers in hotels in these GCC Gulf states might as well head back home as their role there is redundant. Of course it’s unlikely that Trump will move them out as such an event will be captured by many on social media and will look like a great defeat. But some analysts are going further and speculating that there is more bad news for Israel and the U.S. with this latest move. Not only has Iran insisted on no activity at all in these countries by U.S. forces but they have also said that when the war is over, all the bases must be completely shut down.

Sadly, the gesture didn’t hold for long as it is rumoured that Iran’s elite guard was angered by Trump’s response and so the missile attack on the Gulf states continued.

Against a backdrop of rumours spreading throughout the middle east that Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar were considering jointly to completely pull out their investment in the U.S., this move, even as a gesture, couldn’t have come at a worse time for Trump.

His media machine is working overtime in spewing out so many fake news reports, like the recent one that the U.S. has total air superiority over Iran, that it will be interesting to see how this is spun in the coming days. But there is nothing but lies from the Trump camp and as a complicit western media scrum is happy to pump out these lies, people are obviously turning to social media or international news channels in the global south, like CGTN and Russia Today.

For many Americans, they are simply too dumb to know how to even question the narrative. Where is the video footage to support these preposterous claims that American has air superiority over Iran? Within 24 hours of Trumps B2 bombers hitting nuclear sites in Iran last year in June, media were given video clips of the satellite imagery. So far, the claims by Trump’s people about air superiority, have not been matched with any evidence. None the less U.S. media reports it more or less like it is fact.

It’s a similar story with the claims about the U.S. navy sinking 20 Iranian vessels. Where’s the evidence? If we are to take into account completely defenceless ships like the unarmed frigate that was sunk in international waters after it returned from a joint exercise with India, it would seem that America is on the losing side. Not even Japanese naval strikes in the WWII would blow up enemies’ ships and not then pick up survivors. The Americans left 80 sailors to drown, the same seamen who posed with photos days earlier with Prime Minister Modi, who, it should be pointed out often claims that India is the “guardian of the Indian ocean”, a patently absurd claim. Many believe Modi sold the Iranians out and disclosed its position to the Americans, leaving many to question just how much he can be trusted with his present allies. Will Russia still sell its oil to India after such a betrayal?

It’s clear that the Iran war is already WWIII in many respects. Certainly each side has its partners and media have made much of Russia’s intelligence support to Iran pointing out American positions, while China has given Iran considerable military support both in state of the art radar systems and ground to air missile systems. The sinking of the Iranian ship shows us all the depth of the desperation of America, that it needs to go as far as hunting for Iranian ships thousands of miles away and sinking them, even if they are unarmed as this ship was. Does that look like the act of a confident aggressor on a victory role? Hardly.

It isn’t just that America can barely hold the high moral ground for even a brief, ephemeral media moment, but more that the number of shocking tactical errors by Trump are piling up and having an impact. The failure to see that killing the supreme leader, who has been replaced by a hard liner who has always wanted Iran to have a nuclear deterrent, was a major act of stupidity. Nearly all U.S. wars follow the same pattern of America underestimating its enemy and overestimating its own capabilities and this one is no exception.

The move to bring the Gulf states closer to Iran and turn them against the U.S. is smart and what we could expect from Iran who has had years to prepare for this attack and has been given so many free lessons by America’s blunders — the best one being the June attack which resulted in Iran upping its game and identifying all the weak spots which needed work. The biggest miscalculation probably of all is going to war in the first place believing that regime change would be inevitable in days and therefore no longer-term plans, in terms of military stocks, need to be addressed. America is about to run out of ammo. For the Gulf states, it’s quite possible that the deal might be reinstated in the coming days as a new truth emerges from the war. While Donald Trump tells reporters on Air Force one that Iran was responsible for bombing its own school, Gulf state leaders will have to wake up to a new reality which is summed up by Henry Kissinger. “It may be dangerous to be America’s enemy, but to be America’s friend is fatal.”

[…]

Via https://alethonews.com/2026/03/09/irans-latest-move-in-the-gcc-countries-was-a-stroke-of-genius/

Hindustan Times

From Moscow, Sergey Lavrov vows Russia will “do everything” at the UN to stop Western operations, even as U.S. intel says Putin’s spies are quietly feeding Tehran real‑time coordinates for American warships, aircraft and bases across the Middle East. Washington officials say Iran’s strikes on radars, command posts, a CIA station in Riyadh and U.S. troops in Kuwait suddenly look far more precise, while the Pentagon burns through “years’ worth” of munitions in days. Yet Pete Hegseth insists there is “no shortage” of weapons and vows the U.S. can fight “as long as we need to.”

Prof. Jiang Xueqin

Iran Launches Strike on Strategic Israeli Base | Prof. Jiang Xueqin Geopolitical Analysis Tensions in the Middle East have reached a dangerous new level as Iran launches missile and drone strikes targeting strategic Israeli military sites. The attack is part of a broader escalation following joint U.S.–Israeli strikes on Iranian military and leadership targets, triggering a cycle of retaliation across the region.

In response to earlier attacks on Iranian facilities and leadership compounds, Iran launched waves of ballistic missiles and drones toward Israel and several U.S. military positions in the region, signaling a major expansion of the conflict.

In this video, Professor Jiang Xueqin breaks down the strategic significance of these strikes and explains how they fit into the larger geopolitical confrontation between Iran, Israel, and their allies. Using game theory, military strategy, and predictive history, Jiang explores why attacks on strategic military bases can dramatically shift the balance of power in a regional war. In this analysis you’ll learn:

• Why Iran targeted key Israeli military bases • The strategic role of missile and drone warfare in modern conflicts

• How the Iran–Israel confrontation could expand into a regional war • The military and geopolitical consequences of escalating retaliation

• What this conflict means for global stability and energy security Through careful geopolitical analysis, Professor Jiang explains how a single strike on a strategic base can trigger a wider conflict involving multiple countries across the Middle East.