Iran to halt attacks on GCC countries, if they bar attacks on Iran from their territory

Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian has said Tehran will no longer target neighbouring countries unless attacks against Iran are launched from their territory as the war goes into its eight day.

The decision was approved by Iran’s interim leadership council, according to remarks carried by Iranian state media, Al Jazeera reports.

“The Iranian interim leadership council approved yesterday that neighbouring countries will no longer be attacked, unless an attack on Iran originates from there,” Pezeshkian said.

The announcement follows a series of attacks in recent days that heightened fears of a wider regional conflict involving Iran, the Gulf states and Western allies. Iran has been targeting sites in neighbouring countries that it accuses of backing the US and supporting operations against the Islamic Republic.

Pezeshkian’s remarks sought to reassure regional governments and ease diplomatic tensions after the strikes. Iran's neighbours have become increasingly angry as missiles target US military assets across the region in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Every single one of the six GCC members has been hit, including the nominally neutral Oman.

bne IntelliNews sources in Muscat say that the strike on Oman’s port was “a mistake” by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which has apologised and promised to refrain from more attacks.

The GCC has pushed back against Tehran and there has been a suggestion that the member countries could unite and possibly strike back in retaliation for what they claim are unprovoked attacks on their sovereignty.

Despite their claims of neutrality many of the GCC countries host American military bases including Bahrain which is home to the US Fifth Fleet and Qatar, which houses the US CENTCOM military headquarters in the Gulf. In addition, residential areas and hotels have been hit in some of the countries which are reportedly housing US personnel evacuated from their military bases in the run up to the start of Operation Epic Fury on February 28.

Pezeshkian “apologised to the neighbouring countries for the strikes that took place in the past days”, Iranian media reported.

The move appears aimed at preventing further escalation with Gulf states. Tensions have been escalating quickly as Iran expands its missile attacks beyond US military targets and has begun targeting the energy assets of its neighbours.

On the morning of March 7 the Saudi foreign ministry reported that it had shot down a wave of Iranian drone drones targeting one of Aramco’s largest oil fields. In addition, at least nine oil tankers attempting to navigate the Straits of Hormuz have also been hit by missiles in the last week and several oil rigs owned by other Gulf states have been targeted and set on fire.

Analysts speculate that part of the missile campaign against GCC members is designed by Tehran to push its neighbours into pressuring the White House into curtailing the military operation. They are also designed to sow chaos on the international energy markets as another form of pressure on the White House which faces mid-term elections in November. The cost of diesel staged its largest one-day gain since the 2022 energy crisis on March 6 that will have political implications for US President Donald Trump at home in the run up to the elections. Brent oil prices also surged on the same day to $90 as the conflict started to transition from a mere “disruption” into a full blown crisis.

The offer to hold back on attacks on GCC members may also come as Tehran considers its immediate military goals to degrade the US military power in the region successful. Amongst the military targets that Iran has unexpectedly destroyed are several high-tech radar stations that are the US's eyes and ears in the Gulf.

Last week Iran destroyed the important $1bn AN/TPY-2 X-band radar site at Al Kharj in Saudi Arabia. Reports emerged on March 7 that it has also successfully destroyed the $300mn AN/TPY-2 X-band radar site at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base based in Jordan. These are powerful radar systems that allow the US to see distant launches of missiles to give early warning of inbound barrages. Both facilities will take years to rebuild and also degrade the US ability to use its THAAD air defence system to counter Iranian ballistic missile attacks.

Diplomats say Iran has long warned that it would hold neighbouring countries responsible if their territory were used to support attacks against it. Pezeshkian’s remarks appear to reiterate that position while at the same time seeking to defuse the risk of further cross-border strikes in the short term.

As the fighting escalates, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth admitted on March 6 that the US had underestimated the effectiveness of Iran’s drones. As bne IntelliNews reported, Iran has had a decade to invest into its drone development and production, which act in effect as a cheap version of cruise missiles, giving Iran a higher cost-to-kill ratio that could be an advantage in a protracted war.