Trump’s Gulf tour alarms Iran as it fears isolation, shifting alliances
Sanctions-hit Iran is anxiously watching Trump clinch multibillion-dollar trade deals with regional heavyweights, yet it is finding a moment of relief in the "sidelining" of Israel.
TEHRAN — A red-carpet welcome and sweeping trade deals for US President Donald Trump in Saudi Arabia — with more to follow in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar — have put Iran on edge. In Tehran, officials see the Gulf tour not just as a show of Gulf-US unity, but as a warning that the Islamic Republic is at risk of being sidelined in a region where alliances — and priorities — are rapidly being reshaped.
Iran's political circles are closely watching the regional business-oriented tour that was defined by Trump's friendly engagement with and high praise of Saudi de facto leader Mohammed bin Salman during the first leg in Riyadh on Tuesday.
"Trump is not there to pursue peacemaking, rather to sell out as many weapons as possible to Arab states," argued a Reformist paper in its Tuesday edition, as the US delegation closed agreements across various sectors from the arms industry and AI to space technology.
Muddied outlook
