Iran War Daily — The Gulf Report
Issue No. 4 | Covering Tuesday, March 4, 2026
Oil, Strait of Hormuz, and Stock Markets
Oil Price Update: As of the market close on March 4, 2026, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil settled at $74.66 per barrel, representing approximately a 0.13% increase from the previous day’s close. (Business Insider).
“Oil settles at highest in over a year for second straight day as Iran crisis escalates, snarls Hormuz flows.” Reuters.
“Trump says US Navy will protect ships in the Middle East ‘if necessary’.” BBC.
“Shipping slows to a crawl through Strait of Hormuz, threatening to snarl international trade.” NBC.
“Most Gulf bourses end higher; UAE shares extend losses.” Reuters.
States’ Updates
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia
“Saudi Defense officials said that there was an attempted attack on Aramco's Ras Tanura refinery on Wednesday, the second such in two days.” Reuters.
🇦🇪 UAE
"Fire still raging at an oil depot in Fujairah, UAE a day after falling debris from an intercepted drone ignited the blaze." Al Jazeera.
🇶🇦 Qatar
“Qatar shuts gas liquefaction, will take weeks to restart, sources say.” Reuters.
“Iran FM says strikes targeted US, not Qatar; Doha rejects claim.” Reuters.
“Qatar Airways continues to suspend its flights and announces the operation of limited relief flights starting today.” Al Arab.
🇴🇲 Oman
“Ship in Strait of Hormuz struck by ‘unknown projectile’: UK agency” Al Arabia.
“Oman Oil Marketing Company: An incident at one of the fuel storage tanks caused minor damage, and operations at the affected site have been temporarily suspended as a precautionary measure.” Al Jarrida.
🇰🇼 Kuwait
“The Pentagon reveals the identities of two soldiers among the six killed in an attack on Kuwait.” Sky News Arabia.
“US soldiers were killed in an Iranian drone strike at a civilian port in Kuwait.” Associated Press.
🇧🇭 Bahrain
"Amazon’s Bahrain data center targeted by Iran for support of U.S. military, state media says." CNBC.
Defense Summary
Public Opinion
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia
“Remember this…
Iran is not a homogeneous nation-state.
Azeris number around 24 million, Kurds 10 million, Arabs 7 million, Baloch 4 million, Lurs 3 million, and Turkmen 2 million.
More than half of Iran’s population is non-Persian… and the future of politics in Iran should not be read only from the capital, but also from the edges of the map.”
Mohamed Al Arab, X, March 4, 2026.
“How many contradictory Iranian statements about the Gulf states have there been since the war began? One moment they say we targeted them, another they say we did not target them, and then they say we will not target the Gulf states.”
Adhwan Alahmari, X, March 4, 2026.
🇦🇪 UAE
“It was necessary to secure Venezuela oil
before destabilizing the Middle East.
The intention was already there…”
Wesam Zourob, X, March 4, 2026.
“The ‘professor’ here argues that if the attacks continue, the Gulf reserves of water and food would run out within only two weeks.
Here is an important point I mentioned yesterday: these people know nothing about the Gulf or its ability to manage crises. This is the very region that recovered first during the COVID period and took all the necessary precautions from that time onward.
They do not see in us the capacity to manage such risks; their perception of us is shaped by the books of the Middle Ages. Meanwhile, reality shows that we have advanced light-years beyond them, and we no longer even deal with them as equals—rather, there are things we impose through our own logic and vision.”
Eisa Almarzooqi, X, March 4, 2026.
🇶🇦 Qatar
“The Iranian people have been deprived of their wealth for more than 40 years for the sake of armament and the creation of militias. Today, all of this is being destroyed in less than a week.”
Hamad Lahdan, X, March 4, 2026.
“So far:
• The Washington Post has published a false story about Saudi Arabia.
• Bloomberg has published a false story about the UAE and Qatar.
• Tucker Carlson has made weak claims about Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
• Meanwhile, Channel 12 has circulated false allegations about Qatar.These “Western sources” are contributing to inflaming an already highly sensitive situation and are waging an information war at an extremely volatile moment. It appears their aim is to drag the GCC states into an offensive war by force.”
Ahmad Alyehri, X, March 3, 2026.
🇴🇲 Oman
“Iran remains a permanent neighbor by virtue of geography and history. It may become an adversary in a particular political moment, but it is still part of the region that cannot be moved or ignored. In contrast, the Zionist entity may at times be presented as a partner or ally in a certain political moment, yet in the collective consciousness and the historical conflict it remains a permanent enemy, making it a temporary neighbor by politics, not by geography.
The difference between what is permanent and what is temporary here is not a linguistic detail, but a strategic equation that requires thinking with a cool head rather than reacting with momentary emotion.”
Ahmed Alameri, Al Roya, March 4, 2026.
“The most important question may not be who will win, but rather what will remain after the war subsides. The battle unfolding within the institution may grant one side a visible victory, yet it leaves behind a team with less trust, a leader who is more cautious, and an institution that has lost something of its spirit.
In the end, one side may win the round, but it is the institution alone that ultimately pays the price of this war.”
Khaled bin Hamad, Al Roya, March 4, 2026.
🇰🇼 Kuwait
“Israel wants the region to dance to its tunes. Iran is falling for the Israeli playbook by attacking the Gulf trying to push the Gulf into the US-Israeli camp. It’s not our war. Attacking the Gulf, at times more than Israel, won’t fulfill Iran’s pressure goal and could backfire.”
Bader Al Saif, X, March 4, 2026.
“The war will continue to severely drain both sides, and the United States may be forced to deploy a third aircraft carrier. After two weeks, it may also need to replace the USS Gerald R. Ford with a fourth carrier, as Trump begins to feel the weight of the costs. Europe is unlikely to provide financial support, aside from Japan, and global oil supplies will be affected by the consequences of the war.
The conflict may continue beyond April, at which point Netanyahu could face a difficult situation that might push him toward using tactical nuclear weapons to force Iran into submission.
In summary: the war will likely continue without a decisive outcome, with all parties suffering heavy losses. It is unlikely that the Gulf states will be drawn into attacking Iran, and the current position of the Gulf countries reflects sound judgment and prudence.”
Nasser Al Duwailah, X, March 4, 2026.
🇧🇭 Bahrain
“Before the missiles carved their path toward Tehran, the battle had already been decided in cyberspace. Disabling mobile phone towers around the target was not random sabotage, but a tightly controlled ‘isolation’ designed to sever the arteries of real-time warning. In a decisive moment, the devices turned into cold metal, and the chain linking the guard to the operations room was cut.
This ‘technological blindness’ created a short but sufficient window of time for the strike: no alert, no repositioning, no call for reinforcements. In an era where survival is measured in seconds, those seconds had already been taken in advance by an algorithm that knew exactly when to press the switch of darkness.”
Yaser Saleem, Al Bilad, March 5, 2026.
“Within just a few days, airports that were once full of life turned into zones of suspension. The skies of the Gulf, which had previously hosted thousands of daily flights, became nearly empty after the closure of airspace in several countries, including Bahrain, due to escalating security risks. These disruptions went beyond simple flight cancellations or rerouting. Most international airlines suspended their services to the Gulf region, leaving hundreds of thousands of travelers stranded or facing an uncertain waiting period.”
Hamad Ameen, Akhbar Al Khaleej March 4, 2026.