Iran’s retaliatory attacks against Gulf States have driven those countries closer to the United States, according to War Secretary Pete Hegseth, who derided America’s European allies as “ungrateful.”
The Gulf States have stepped up incredibly,” the secretary said on Thursday morning during a briefing on the war at the Pentagon. “In fact, Iran’s sort of reckless attempt to strike civilian infrastructure and other things has brought countries who maybe would have not been as all in as they are today, squarely into our orbit.”
Iran’s missile and drone retaliatory attacks have targeted Oman, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Cyprus, Turkey, Azerbaijan, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Iraq, Kuwait, and Bahrain.
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His comments come a day after Iran struck an oil facility in Saudi Arabia, two Kuwaiti oil refineries, and a liquefied natural gas facility in Qatar, and they did so following an Israeli attack on their South Pars gas field.
President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the U.S. “will not hesitate” to “massively blow up the entirety of the” South Pars gas field if Iran targets Qatar again, though he also said Israel will also not attack the facility again either.
Qatar declared several Iranian Embassy attaches persona non grata after the attack on Wednesday.
“We’re proud to be defending with them, standing with them, you name it, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and others who have been right there. And we’re grateful for that kind of support,” Hegseth said.
The president’s defense of Qatar comes months after he issued an executive order, which declared that the U.S. would consider “any armed attack on the territory, sovereignty, or critical infrastructure of the State of Qatar as a threat to the peace and security of the United States,” and said it said the U.S. would take “all lawful and appropriate measures” in the event of such an attack to include “diplomatic, economic, and, if necessary, military.”
In addition to attacking Israel and Gulf countries, Iran has also largely shut down the Strait of Hormuz, which is a vital waterway for oil and gas, and it has led to significant increases in energy prices.
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Trump had initially sought for America’s NATO allies to help reopen the strait, though he later said he no longer needs their assistance.
In a lengthy social media post, Trump denied being “surprised by their action” because he has “always” considered NATO “to be a one-way street” where the U.S. will “protect” its allies, “but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need.”
“Because of the fact that we have had such Military Success, we no longer ‘need,’ or desire, the NATO Countries’ assistance — WE NEVER DID!” Trump added of his Iran war. “Likewise, Japan, Australia, or South Korea.”
Hegseth, who, like Trump, has frequently criticized NATO and Europe, called them “ungrateful allies” in the briefing.
Shortly after the briefing concluded, the leaders from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Japan released a joint statement that said they “express our readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait.”
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While the U.S. military continues to strike thousands of targets in Iran, the intelligence community continues to assess that the regime “appears to be intact but largely degraded due to attacks on its leadership and military capabilities,” Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said during a congressional hearing on Wednesday.
Hegseth, during the briefing, declined to “set a definitive time frame” for how long the war will continue but said they are “very much on plan.”
