The dilemma for the Gulf states is that geography is immutable. Decades of confrontation have failed to alter a simple reality: Iran's position alongside the region's energy and trade arteries makes it an unavoidable player in any Gulf security equation.
Whatever Gulf leaders think of the Islamic Republic, it remains a reality they cannot bypass or simply wish away and the conflict triggered by U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran has blown apart decades of diplomatic efforts to contain it.
Asked on Sunday if he was concerned about the Gulf states meeting with Iran, U.S. President Donald Trump said that was up to them.
Alex Vatanka of the Middle East Institute said the question for Gulf states may increasingly be less whether they trust Iran than how to protect their interests and survive hostilities Washington cannot quickly end.
That could push them towards parallel diplomacy with Tehran and, over time, a broader security strategy less dependent on the United States alone.
"The Gulf states are contemplating the basic reality that they might have to cut a deal with the Iranians on their own, regardless of whether they hurt American feelings or not, because America can't get them out of this quagmire," he said.
The flareup revives a struggle that long predates the U.S.-Iran conflict. The Houthis, drawn from Yemen's Zaydi Shi'ite minority, fought a series of wars with Saudi Arabia before seizing Sanaa in 2014, prompting a Saudi-led intervention the following year.
Despite years of air strikes and cross-border warfare, they survived, expanded their capabilities and emerged as one of Iran's most effective regional allies.
The Houthis are pursuing their own longstanding conflict with Riyadh while exploiting a position that gives them leverage far beyond Yemen's borders to create growing value for Tehran.
"The Houthis are not traditional proxies," said former U.S. negotiator Aaron David Miller. "They can weaponise geography and have a dramatic impact on the international economy and on the global oil economy."
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