Amid increased tension in the Gulf, European countries are closing ranks with allies in the region. The United Kingdom announced it\u00a0will deploy RAF Typhoon jets to defend Saudi Arabia in response to escalating Houthi missile and drone attacks, the government has said.<\/p>\n
The defensive mission will help defend Saudi cities and infrastructure – a move authorised by Prime Minister Andy Burnham – against aerial attacks by the Iran-backed group.<\/p>\n
It follows Houthi attacks on the Saudi capital Riyadh, as well as on energy sites on the country’s coast.”These aircraft will operate in a defensive role and will not conduct offensive strikes against the Houthis,” Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said in a written statement on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The news came the same day that the Sultan of Oman started a three day State visit to London. Oman is a long time friend and ally of the UK in the region.<\/p>\n
Britain\u2019s King Charles III has welcomed Oman\u2019s Sultan, Haitham bin Tariq, for a state visit, praising the Gulf Arab monarch\u2019s efforts to broker peace in the region.<\/p>\n
Haitham bin Tariq said his country has chosen the path of diplomacy in a region rife with conflict.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a region that has known too much conflict, Oman has chosen a different path, an independent path,\u201d the Omani ruler said during a state banquet on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cBritain has been a friend on this path and has stood beside us in this duty,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
King Charles III praised Oman\u2019s peacemaking attempts in the Middle East, paying tribute to Muscat\u2019s \u201cnoble efforts\u201d to help reopen the choked Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would especially like to recognise, at a time when conflict has returned so painfully to the region, Oman\u2019s enduring commitment as a trusted interlocutor to all parties,\u201d Charles told about 160 guests at the lavish dinner.<\/p>\n
\u201cOman\u2019s role across the Gulf and her \u2018constructive neutrality\u2019, as you put it, matters far beyond Hormuz, and is worthy of our utmost respect,\u201d Britain\u2019s king added in a toast to the Omani sultan.<\/p>\n
In the meantime French President Emanuel Macron is on a tour in the region, visiting, Kuwait, Bahrain, UAE and Qatar.<\/p>\n
The French leader is hoping to strengthen defence ties and energy supplies amid major disruption to global fuel shipments arising from the US-Israel war on Iran. He has already visited Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as part of his three-day trip. His next stop is Qatar<\/p>\n
On the first day of Macron\u2019s trip, France and Kuwait signed eight agreements and cooperation documents covering defence, artificial intelligence, investment and more.<\/p>\n
Macron then met UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi on Monday. The two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to advancing cooperation in energy, advanced technology and artificial intelligence (AI).<\/p>\n
According to the French Foreign Ministry, the UAE is France\u2019s biggest importer in the Gulf, with bilateral trade standing at 10.8 billion euros ($12.1bn) in 2025. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), France supplied 18 percent of the UAE\u2019s arms and defence imports in 2025 \u2013 the second highest after the United States, at 42 percent.<\/p>\n
But this isn\u2019t all about simple trade.<\/p>\n
Andreas Krieg, a senior lecturer at King\u2019s College London\u2019s School of Security Studies, explained that Macron\u2019s visit to the region is \u201csymptomatic of a much larger geopolitical transformation\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are witnessing the gradual emergence of a post-American Middle East in which Washington remains militarily powerful but increasingly struggles to exercise the political leadership it once enjoyed,\u201d Krieg told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n
source: commonspace.eu with agencies<\/p>\n
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