00:00Well, for more on this story, we can bring in our International Affairs Editor, Rochelle Ferguson-Buyahi.
00:06Hi, Rochelle.
00:06Hi to you, Karis.
00:07Donald Trump has said that one of the biggest surprises in this war has been Iran's attacks on the Gulf
00:13states.
00:13But does that come as such a shock?
00:16Well, I think, Karis, the response to this is too pronged.
00:20It was widely expected that Iran would ultimately target U.S. bases.
00:24Think back to the 12-day war between Iran and Israel.
00:27When there was that U.S. base that was touched in Qatar, many have called it a near symbolic strike
00:33on Qatar at that moment.
00:35But it sowed the seed, essentially, that U.S. bases were not untouchable and that it was a possibility that
00:40should there be further escalation in the region, U.S. bases could be the target from Iran.
00:45As you're seeing on those images there, there are strikes that have gone above and beyond a U.S. basis.
00:51So we're talking about, you know, military, you know, all sorts of installations that have been touched there.
00:58Also, we spoke earlier about key tourist entities from the hotels, ports, airports as well.
01:06There have been, you know, efforts to disrupt things there.
01:08What's been surprising about these attacks, if we talk about this word shock or surprise, is ultimately the scale.
01:14It's the breadth and it's the speed at which Iran has been able to carry out these attacks against multiple
01:22countries.
01:23The UAE, for example, it's important to remind our viewers on the first day of this war.
01:27Of course, we're day 13 now, but they received as many drones, as many missiles as Israel did.
01:33So it was a real intense campaign.
01:35You know, Iran ultimately setting the tone for what's to come.
01:40Abu Dhabi and Tehran, let's not forget, they have this gentleman's agreement, you might call it.
01:45This idea that neither country is going to go for full-scale confrontation, particularly because the Iranians have a number
01:52of assets.
01:53They have a number of economic interest in Dubai.
01:57So it's really not in their interest.
01:58There have been a number of questions as to why, you know, why Tehran has chosen to strike Abu Dhabi
02:06and indeed Dubai.
02:07One of the ideas that's been put forward is that ultimately Iran thinks that the UAE could pressure Washington to
02:13stop this before, you know, things go even further.
02:17There's further escalation.
02:18The rest otherwise is ultimately this idea that, you know, Tehran knows that this is kind of the epicenter, if
02:27you will.
02:27Dubai is so important to tourism and that touching Dubai goes above and beyond just the UAE and Dubai.
02:32But it also touches the world economy as we're seeing there with things coming to a standstill, notably in the
02:38Ormuz Straits.
02:39There are many surprises in this.
02:41Oman is another one that we could just briefly talk about.
02:44Oman, known as the friend to all, enemy to none.
02:47They've been key in this kind of delicate balancing act between the United States and Iran and times gone by.
02:54So it's interesting to see, it's surprising to see, you might say, that they've been touched as well.
02:58They were touched overnight by Iranian attacks.
03:01They ultimately, you know, were seen as a mediator in the region.
03:04So, you know, if we talk about surprises, Oman is definitely up there.
03:08Just finally, Saudi Arabia has repeatedly been struck by Iran.
03:15That's surprising because they're seen as the dominant player within the region.
03:19If there's any Gulf state that is going to respond to Iran, it would probably, analysts suggest, would be Saudi
03:26Arabia.
03:27So, you know, we're keen to see how this is going to play out.
03:31We know, though, that the warnings that Gulf states gave to Iran in the beginning about not going ahead with
03:37a war against Iran is clear.
03:40There is growing frustration from Gulf Arab states with this war against Iran.
03:45Indeed, Rachelle, Rachelle Ferguson-Biahi, thank you very much for that analysis.
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