Iran’s foreign minister stepped up the diplomatic offensive on Saturday, declaring that the US security umbrella in the Middle East had “proven to be full of holes” and had been “inviting rather than deterring trouble.” The statement was part of a sustained Iranian effort to delegitimise the American military presence in the region and persuade Arab governments to reconsider their security arrangements with Washington. The foreign minister called explicitly on neighbouring countries to expel US forces, framing the war as a consequence of American overreach rather than Iranian aggression.
The argument found some resonance in the facts on the ground. The UAE, one of Washington’s closest Gulf partners and host to significant US military assets, had just been struck by Iranian ballistic missiles. Fujairah’s oil port was forced to suspend operations, and Iran’s military was warning of further strikes on any facility with American ties. Rather than deterring Iran, the American military presence seemed to be making US allies targets. The UAE condemned the attacks as terrorism while carefully maintaining its commitment to restraint and diplomacy.
US warplanes continued their campaign against Iran, striking Kharg Island on Saturday for the second consecutive day. President Trump said in public remarks the island had been effectively demolished and called on allied nations to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz. He named China, France, Japan, South Korea, and the UK. His appeal was the first public admission that reopening the waterway, closed since February 28, might require a collective international effort. Energy prices were approaching $120 per barrel, with analysts warning of further increases.
Israel conducted dozens of raids inside Iran, killing at least 15 people in Isfahan. Iran fired rockets at Israel simultaneously. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth claimed Iran’s leadership was hiding underground and wounded. Iranian officials confirmed the injury but dismissed its severity. The International Crisis Group described the regime as intact and strategically coherent. The USS Tripoli and 2,500 additional US marines were heading to the region, though their specific mission remained publicly unspecified.
The human cost of the conflict was vast. More than 1,400 Iranians had been killed in sustained bombing. Thirteen Israelis and roughly 20 Gulf residents had died. Lebanon’s crisis deepened, with 800 killed and 850,000 displaced from Israeli strikes on Hezbollah. Six US troops died in an aircraft crash in Iraq. The US embassy in Baghdad was struck, and Americans in Iraq were ordered to leave. Whether the US presence was deterring or inviting trouble, the evidence of three weeks of war suggested it was doing neither effectively enough to end the conflict quickly.