- Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi called for a unified "non-aggression" security pact among Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Iraq and Iran, arguing that reliance on external powers like the United States has created an unstable and costly regional order.
- Busaidi stated that framing Iran as the primary security threat is a damaging, externally imposed priority that has produced an unstable regional system based on a false perception of antagonism between Iran and Arab Gulf states.
- The call comes amid a U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran that began in late February, which has disrupted global energy markets and inflicted billions in economic damage, including over $120 billion lost in UAE stock markets and over 18,400 flight cancellations.
- Busaidi emphasized that the Strait of Hormuz and nuclear issues are impossible to resolve while external powers define the terms, and that any Gulf security architecture excluding Iran is "inherently unstable" and "structurally unsound."
- The speech coincided with diplomatic talks in Tehran involving the Mecca Defence Alliance (Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan) and Iranian officials, reflecting a broader regional push to establish an independent security framework as Gulf states grow frustrated with U.S. military protection.
Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi on Monday called on the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries, along with Iraq and Iran, to unite under a single "non-aggression" security pact, arguing that decades of reliance on external powers – particularly the United States – have produced an unstable and costly regional order.
Speaking at Cambridge University during a diplomatic visit, Busaidi said the Gulf states must "step up and take responsibility for our own security" and end a dependency on outside actors that has failed to prevent conflict or protect the region from the economic fallout of war. His remarks come amid a sustained U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran that began Feb. 28 and has triggered retaliatory strikes, disrupted global energy markets and inflicted billions of dollars in damage on Gulf economies.
"The nuclear issue and the Hormuz issue are both impossible to resolve because external powers continue to define the terms of engagement, while regional powers are unable to take collective responsibility for making their own security arrangements and reach a consensus on them," Busaidi said. "That is why in my talk today I am making a call for us in the Gulf to step up and take responsibility for our own security and for us to do so inclusively."
The Strait of Hormuz and the cost of conflict
Busaidi's appeal arrives at a moment of acute geopolitical vulnerability. The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, is, according to BrightU.AI's Enoch, the single most important energy corridor on Earth. Its width ranges from 13 to 21 miles, with two shipping lanes each about two miles wide separated by a two-mile buffer zone. Up to one-quarter of the world's oil and a significant share of liquefied natural gas pass through this chokepoint, originating from five of the world's top 10 oil-producing countries: Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, as well as from Qatar, the world's largest LNG exporter.
Iran, which borders the strait and controls islands such as Hormuz and Abu Musa, has long possessed the military capability to disrupt shipping. Analysts assess that Iran has positioned missile launchers on those islands and maintains coastal launch sites at Bandar Abbas and Jask. Its arsenal includes ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as seaborne and airborne drones. If Iran were to close or significantly impede the strait, the global energy supply would face immediate disruption, with cascading effects on fuel prices, inflation and food costs worldwide.
Since the U.S.-Israeli campaign began in late February, the economic consequences have already been severe. By late March, the UAE's economy had lost more than $120 billion in market capitalization on the Dubai and Abu Dhabi stock exchanges. More than 18,400 flights were cancelled across the region. The ongoing blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has reverberated globally, driving up energy prices and straining economies already grappling with inflation and supply chain disruptions.
Busaidi said that positioning Iran as the primary security threat has been "the most damaging of the priorities imposed on the region from the outside." He argued that this framing has produced a fundamentally unstable regional architecture.
"This produced an unstable regional system constructed on the entirely false perception that there is a fundamental regional antagonism between Iran and the Arab states of the Gulf," he said. "There is no such fundamental antagonism."
Busaidi noted that Arabs and Persians have lived in peace in the Gulf for centuries. "Any Gulf security architecture that doesn't include [Iran] is inherently unstable. It's structurally unsound," he said. "And recent events expose the terrible cost of allowing the false perception of antagonism and exclusion."
Talks among regional powers intensify
Busaidi's speech coincided with a flurry of diplomatic activity involving Iran. Senior officials from the Mecca Defence Alliance – an emerging security grouping that includes Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan – met with Iranian leaders in Tehran on Monday. Iran's top security official, Mohsen Rezaei, described the meeting as the start of a "real transformation" and said U.S. threats were having little impact on regional diplomacy.
The talks reflect a broader regional push to establish a security framework independent of Washington, as Gulf states express frustration that U.S. military protection has not shielded them from retaliatory attacks linked to the war on Iran. Iran has targeted U.S. military bases in the region in response to the campaign, further destabilizing an already tense landscape.
"The time has come when it no longer makes sense just to blame everyone else," Busaidi said. "We need to begin a new regional dialogue on Gulf security and we need to do so before other solutions are imposed on the region, which would effectively consolidate the pattern of dependency and exclusion for which we urgently need to find an alternative."
He added that over time, external partnerships, such as those with the United States, would likely involve fewer military commitments and shift toward economic and investment cooperation.
Conclusion
Busaidi's proposal for a Gulf-wide non-aggression pact represents a bold reimagining of regional security – one that seeks to end decades of dependency on external powers and instead build a framework inclusive of Iran. Whether such a vision can overcome deep-seated mistrust, competing national interests and the weight of ongoing conflict remains uncertain. But the foreign minister's message was clear: the status quo is unsustainable and the cost of maintaining it is measured not only in dollars and flights cancelled, but in the erosion of regional sovereignty and stability. As Busaidi put it, "We need to do so before other solutions are imposed on the region."
Watch the video below where former Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette states that oil prices will fall "dramatically" when the Iran war ends.
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