Iran War Reveals Major Weaknesses in Gulf States' $1 Trillion Defenses A study by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) says the Gulf states will have to overhaul their defense systems at a cost of $1 trillion after Iranian attacks caused significant damage to their economies and exposed doubts about the effectiveness of American military defenses. In the weeks leading up to the April 8 ceasefire, 12 regional states, mostly in the Gulf, faced 4,670 one-way strike Iranian drones and more than 1,400 ballistic missiles, nearly half of which were aimed at the United Arab Emirates. Although most of them were intercepted, the damage to the energy infrastructure was estimated to be up to 58 billion dollars. The report warns that any reduction or withdrawal of US forces will be presented by Iran as a "strategic success and justification for its steadfastness, but it will also be used to embarrass the Gulf states for their decades-long courtship of US protection." The study says the US-Israel war in Iran has exposed the failure of the Gulf states' trillion-dollar purchases of US-made weapons primarily to ensure adequate US defense, while exposing their unpreparedness for prolonged air warfare. It identifies major weaknesses, including dependence on US-supplied air and missile defense systems and munitions, poor regional defense integration, insufficient mine-clearing capabilities, limited retaliation options, and the high cost of using advanced anti-UAV weapons and relatively inexpensive missiles. Although not taking a position on whether the divided Gulf states should pursue a new non-aggression pact with Iran, the report concludes that long-standing US defense partnerships have failed to provide adequate protection against Iranian attacks, adding: "If anything, US military bases and defense partnerships with the US have provided Iran with additional pretext for attacks against the Gulf states."

Iran War Reveals Major Weaknesses in Gulf States' $1 Trillion Defenses A study by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) says the Gulf states will have to overhaul their defense systems at a cost of $1 trillion after Iranian attacks caused significant damage to their economies and exposed doubts about the effectiveness of American military defenses. In the weeks leading up to the April 8 ceasefire, 12 regional states, mostly in the Gulf, faced 4,670 one-way strike Iranian drones and more than 1,400 ballistic missiles, nearly half of which were aimed at the United Arab Emirates. Although most of them were intercepted, the damage to the energy infrastructure was estimated to be up to 58 billion dollars. The report warns that any reduction or withdrawal of US forces will be presented by Iran as a "strategic success and justification for its steadfastness, but it will also be used to embarrass the Gulf states for their decades-long courtship of US protection." The study says the US-Israel war in Iran has exposed the failure of the Gulf states' trillion-dollar purchases of US-made weapons primarily to ensure adequate US defense, while exposing their unpreparedness for prolonged air warfare. It identifies major weaknesses, including dependence on US-supplied air and missile defense systems and munitions, poor regional defense integration, insufficient mine-clearing capabilities, limited retaliation options, and the high cost of using advanced anti-UAV weapons and relatively inexpensive missiles. Although not taking a position on whether the divided Gulf states should pursue a new non-aggression pact with Iran, the report concludes that long-standing US defense partnerships have failed to provide adequate protection against Iranian attacks, adding: "If anything, US military bases and defense partnerships with the US have provided Iran with additional pretext for attacks against the Gulf states."