Trump to meet Gulf leaders in New York as Iran war nears seven months

September 22, 2026 at 04:33 PM2 min

This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.

U.S. President Donald Trump is set to meet leaders of the six Gulf Cooperation Council states on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday. The meeting comes as the US-Israel war on Iran nears seven months and Gulf oil and gas exports remain disrupted. Trump has said he faces a "big decision" on the war.

Key Facts

The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
The six GCC states are Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
The US-Israel war on Iran began on February 28 and has repeatedly struck US bases, airports, energy facilities, and hotels.
A June memorandum of understanding collapsed last month amid disputes over navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, which remains effectively closed.
Trump told Axios on Thursday that he wanted to meet GCC leaders as he faced a "big decision" on the war.

Meeting Agenda

Trump is set to meet the leaders from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, which form the GCC, on the sidelines of the UNGA. Trump told US media outlet Axios on Thursday that he wanted to meet the GCC leaders as he faced a "big decision" on the war and wanted to speak with them directly. Experts say there are two interconnected issues – the US-Israel war on Iran and the conflict between Houthi rebels and the Saudi-backed government forces in Yemen.

Gulf Concerns

The GCC has "shared positions on the main principles of regional security and de-escalation", Luciano Zaccara, a researcher with the New Ground Research think tank in Doha, Qatar, told Al Jazeera. Giorgio Cafiero, CEO of Gulf State Analytics, told Al Jazeera that he expects the six GCC states, or at least most of them, to convey to the US president their grave concerns about the likely consequences of another round of intense US military strikes on Iran. Since the war began on February 28, Iran has repeatedly struck US bases across the Middle East as well as airports, energy facilities and hotels. The war has particularly hit the Gulf nations hard, as their oil and gas exports – the mainstay of their economies – have been disrupted, causing a global energy crisis.