Definition of the Persian Gulf Council : article Persian Gulf Council

Since Tuesday, April 7, 2026, there has been a fragile two-week ceasefire between the United States and Israel on one side and Iran on the other. Negotiations are set to begin in the coming days. The agreement underlying the ceasefire is unclear. Various versions are circulating; Trump’s obsession with secrecy, fueled by what he perceives as his omnipotence, leads him to say little or to say one thing and its opposite, reflecting his difficulty in managing the unmanageable nature of his successive and contradictory decisions.

The negotiations will take place in Islamabad between the United States and an Iranian delegation. No Persian Gulf country other than Iran will be represented there. While Saudi Arabia may have an indirect and uncertain influence, it will not be a decision-maker. The other countries will be absent, both directly and indirectly.

The mindset of the Gulf Cooperation Council—which calls itself the Persian Gulf Council despite the absence of Iraq and Iran—is all about power dynamics. Naively, the GCC believes that a military solution (effectively led by the U.S.) will resolve everything and has been waiting for a UN resolution to give the green light to the use of force, which would be a mistake and lead to further escalation. The obsession of some members with demanding reparations—while completely ignoring the damage suffered by Iran and the use of American bases—will poison the debate. They lack a long-term vision and will miss this opportunity, leaving the United States to negotiate a toll without them. The beneficiaries of this toll will likely be Iran and the Trump family and their friends. The United States has become a banana republic where public and private interests are blithely conflated without anyone batting an eye.

If the Persian Gulf countries are unable to establish a Persian Gulf Council in the coming days that includes all the coastal states, they will suffer for decades to come the consequences of an agreement reached without them—one in which their great American ally will insist on being the sole decision-maker, acting in the shadowy and secretive manner typical of it. It will be a makeshift, ad-hoc agreement.

Is there anything else they can do?

If they agreed to establish a Persian Gulf Council, they could put the past behind them and set aside the GCC for a while. All countries bordering the Persian Gulf must be represented in it.

Next, you need to list the topics to be discussed one by one:

1 – The Strait of Hormuz toll: this is necessary to regulate traffic and fund local monitoring agencies. These agencies must be those of the Persian Gulf Council, not those of a foreign country that will be concerned solely with the royalties it receives. It will take six months to a year to define and begin implementing these new rules.

2 – The Persian Gulf Council could call for regional denuclearization. A similar agreement exists in South America. The Gulf Cooperation Council could raise the issue before having it taken up by the Arab League and expanded to include all countries, whether declared nuclear powers or not. It would take two to three years just to get the ball rolling on this issue. The advantage is that the issue would be addressed globally rather than unilaterally by a victor imposing terms on a vanquished party to secure military superiority and exclusive possession of nuclear weapons. Are the Gulf states prepared to ban all nuclear weapons in Iran while accepting that Israel possesses nuclear weapons and that this possession is recognized?

3 – Reparations. Is it possible to demand reparations from those who attack any of the Persian Gulf states? But can we reasonably blame Iran without highlighting the deliberate aggression of Israel and the United States, which occurred without any military provocation from Iran? Putting this issue on the agenda right now would mean burying the Persian Gulf Council once and for all, as it would display the same bias as the GCC, which claims to represent the Persian Gulf countries while excluding two key players. It is certainly possible to reach an agreement for the future, even if it is likely that it will not apply to what has just transpired.

Don’t forget: in two weeks, it will be too late—you’ll be stuck with a deal struck behind your back by your favorite broker, who will have found a way to line his own pockets with your former enemy, all while telling you it’s for your own good (which I personally doubt).

April 10, 2026

Naej DRANER

Naej DRANER is a political and security analyst and solutions architect. At a meeting of the Persian Gulf Council, his status as an official advisor to the Persian Gulf Council will be submitted for approval. Only a unanimous decision by the full members will be acceptable.
Rest assured: N.D. will never become the official advisor, since the Persian Gulf Council will never come into existence and the only official council will be the United States & friends & foes.
This was merely a speculative idea of which no Persian Gulf country was aware.