00:00Meanwhile, Gulf countries continue to be rattled by attacks.
00:04Saudi Arabia says its air defences have been countering ballistic missiles
00:07with loud explosions heard echoing over the capital Riyadh.
00:12Air defences successfully intercepted missiles over Dubai, according to authorities there.
00:17The UAE says it has had to deal with more than 2,000 missiles and drones since the start of
00:23the war.
00:24Well, let's speak more on this and bring in France 24's correspondent,
00:27Huda Abdelhamid, who joins us from Doha.
00:31Good to see you, Huda.
00:32Just talk us through how seriously Gulf countries are taking Iranian threats right now.
00:39Very seriously.
00:41Well, actually, while I was waiting to talk to you now,
00:44we received the alerts on our phones that the threat level was high
00:48and then about 10 minutes later, it came back to normal.
00:52But throughout the evening, we've been hearing jet fighters in the sky, helicopters also.
01:00Someone in Dubai told me that it was exactly the same over there.
01:04And this comes at the back of the threats that Iran has made
01:09following the bombing of the Asuleye oil storage facility on the South Parse island.
01:18Now, Iran said immediately after that it will retaliate,
01:24that some targets have become legitimate across the GCC.
01:30And it has named actually several gas and oil facilities.
01:36Two here in Qatar, Ras Lafan, which is the largest LNG facility in the world,
01:41and then Al-Masead, which is a petrochemical complex linked to Chevron, a U.S. company.
01:48And then it also named Al-Hosna gas facility in the UAE, sorry,
01:56and Al-Jubeir complex in Saudi Arabia that is linked to ExxonMobil.
02:01Since then, the threat has become extremely serious and the authorities have been telling people
02:10to stay in and stay away off windows and take shelter, taking very seriously this threat.
02:17Well, stay with us, Hoda, because the ongoing conflict is, of course,
02:21the top of the agenda for an emergency meeting between foreign ministers
02:25from Arab and Islamic countries taking place in Riyadh today.
02:28The Saudi foreign ministry says the talks will include discussions
02:33on means to support regional security and stability.
02:36Since the start of the war, Gulf Arab states have been repeatedly targeted
02:41and they've come under fire from Iran, causing chaos.
02:45So, Hoda, how does this impact the foreign ministers' meeting that's taking place in Riyadh today?
02:52I think this latest development really brings even more of a sense of emergency
02:59and a sense of seriousness on that meeting.
03:03You know, immediately after the aftermath of the U.S. attack on the installation in Iran,
03:12a spokesman for the foreign ministry here in Qatar issued a statement of condemnation
03:17saying that attacking energy infrastructure is a serious threat to the global energy security.
03:28Now, they are going into that meeting, obviously, on week three since the war started.
03:35These countries have been under constant barrage of ballistic missiles,
03:42cruise missiles and drones from Iran.
03:45There's a sense of anger.
03:47Some leaders have talked about betrayal.
03:50And there's also a sense of insecurity.
03:53Some of these countries have spent billions building, you know, U.S. bases
03:59and hosting U.S. bases on the land, hoping that that will provide enough security.
04:04That didn't turn out to be the reality when, you know, as we have seen over the past few weeks.
04:11So, I think they will also, they will find, they will come out with some statement,
04:16but behind closed doors they will be talking about two things.
04:20How to protect themselves now in the immediate days and weeks to come.
04:27And then what happens after the war?
04:30How to reassess all their bilateral relations?
04:33How to reassess the presence of U.S. assets on their land?
04:37Was it really worth it, investing all that money and then being so, you know, unprotected?
04:45And they would also rethink their relations with Iran.
04:48So, I think there's several things they would talk about.
04:51But what we will hear about when this meeting is over is a statement condemning the attack,
04:58saying that Iran is not just attacking U.S. facilities,
05:01but it's also attacking civilian infrastructures in the GCC countries,
05:07and calling on some sort of calm to pave the way for a diplomatic track to start.
05:18That is not there yet.
05:20I don't think Iran will want to back down.
05:23The U.S. and Israel don't seem to want to back down at the moment.
05:27But I think they will also, and I should have mentioned that earlier,
05:32discuss whether that policy of restraint that they have been following since day one of this war
05:39is working or not.
05:41Should they join the war or not?
05:43These are all very serious questions that they will be discussing around that table.
05:48But we'll have to wait and see what comes out of that meeting.
05:51Huda, grateful for that breakdown.
05:53Thank you so much for that.
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