Gulf States Under Fire, With Mina Al-Oraibi
The President’s Inbox
Council on Foreign Relations
4.4 • 734 Ratings
🗓️ 1 April 2026
⏱️ 38 minutes
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| 0:00.0 | All the officials I've spoken to from the UAE had been clear that their messages in public were the same as those in private, which was, do not go to war. |
| 0:11.5 | Countries around the Gulf are reporting a new round of Iranian missile and drone attacks. |
| 0:16.2 | Across the region, as missile defences spring into action. |
| 0:19.5 | Schools are shut until further notice. |
| 0:22.1 | Here in Dubai, I mean this is a global commerce hub. It is an area where tourists |
| 0:27.2 | come. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait now face the |
| 0:32.2 | threat that their economies will be strangled and their civilian and commercial |
| 0:35.7 | infrastructure ruined. Did the Gulf states want the United States to attack Iran? |
| 0:40.2 | How are they reacting now that they have come under fire? |
| 0:42.7 | And what does the Iran War mean for the future of the Gulf security and economic prosperity? |
| 0:48.2 | From the Council on Foreign Relations, welcome to the president's inbox. |
| 0:52.1 | I'm Jim Lindsay. |
| 0:53.4 | Today I'm joined by Mina L. Aerebi, |
| 0:55.9 | editor-in-chief of the National in English-language newspaper based in Abu Dhabi covering regional affairs. |
| 1:03.0 | Mina, thank you very much for joining me. |
| 1:05.2 | Thank you for having me, Jeff. |
| 1:07.4 | Mina, I'd like to begin by asking you, what's the mood in Abu Dhabi right now? |
| 1:13.1 | So we have now entered the fifth week of this war. |
| 1:19.0 | There is both a sense of resilience, a sense of strength in Abu Dhabi. |
| 1:25.1 | Thankfully, the vast majority of missiles and drones that have been launched |
| 1:30.4 | from Iran onto the UAE and the wider Gulf since the 28th of February have been intercepted. |
| 1:38.1 | So there is a sense that this was the ultimate test and they're able to meet this test. But there's |
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