As Iran batters the Gulf states, Trumps course is beyond clear

President Donald Trump says he has “plenty of time” for talks with Iran.That works because Washington, DC, is 7,000 miles away from the Strait of Hormuz.But if you are in Dubai, the distance drops down to less than 50 miles.While America can afford a protracted war far from its borders to degrade Iran’s military capabilities, such low-intensity confrontation comes at a high cost for the six Gulf Arab nations.Iranian strikes on civilian infrastructure like airports and power plants along with the uncertain fate of oil exported through the Strait of Hormuz has had a devastating economic impact.For the Gulf countries, this war cannot end too soon.If America wants to twist Iran’s arm to force it to concede, therefore, then Washington must apply greater military force.The last thing Gulf countries want to live through is the current on-again, off-again war.For Gulf economies to rebound, American consistency, which is in short supply these days, is a necessary condition.Throughout the war that began at the end of February, these countries have been on the receiving end of sustained Iranian attacks.Unlike Israel, the US’s partner in the first phase of the war, the Gulf states don’t possess the will or the means to join the fight.Must the United States then curb its bombing of Iran so Tehran’s immediate neighbors are spared from its wrath?And if not, can Washington do anything to provide them with more protection?Nearly six months into a war that all six Gulf states initially opposed, Iran’s attacks have left them in no doubt that the regime poses the most direct and deadliest threat to their security.That realization hasn’t resulted in a unified Gulf policy toward Iran.Some states are more hawkish than others.But the economic strain brought about by the war, by Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, and now by the growing tensions in the broader Red Sea, has forced all of them to conclude that the current situation of “no war, no peace” isn’t t...