Iran has launched a concerted diplomatic push with Gulf states, explicitly warning them that Tehran will strike their oil, power and water facilities unless they persuade US President Donald Trump to end American strikes on Iran and pursue a negotiated end to the conflict instead, according to a Reuters report citing senior Iranian and Gulf sources.
The warning reportedly envisages potential attacks on energy facilities, oil fields, refineries, electricity grids, water infrastructure, transport networks and other strategic assets belonging to Washington’s closest Arab allies. A senior Iranian official said the message was conveyed through a flurry of high-level diplomatic contacts, including conversations involving Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, after Trump threatened on July 28 to strike Iran’s energy network and infrastructure.
According to the report, Tehran has reached out through high-level channels to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and Pakistan, urging them to convince Washington to abandon further military action in favour of negotiations. Iranian officials reportedly cautioned that if Gulf infrastructure were used to facilitate US or Israeli attacks, Iran would respond in kind. One official invoked the memory of the 2019 drone and missile strikes on Saudi Arabia’s Abqaiq and Khurais facilities, which briefly knocked out more than half the kingdom’s crude output, as a reminder of the region’s vulnerability.
The Iranian message reportedly extended beyond military installations, with officials indicating that Gulf oil facilities, electricity networks, water infrastructure and transport systems could be at risk if the conflict widens — a strategy that frames any future confrontation as a regional crisis rather than a bilateral dispute between Tehran and Washington.
The warning comes even as Trump has publicly signalled that discussions with Iran have been progressing positively, saying earlier this week that talks between Washington and Tehran were “very good,” suggesting diplomacy and deterrence are unfolding in parallel as the more than five-month-old conflict continues without a lasting resolution.