Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Saturday that the Middle East does not need the United States to be a "regional policeman", even as the United States and Iran remain locked in an active military conflict that began with massive joint U.S. and Israeli airstrikes in February 2026. The region's rulers keep talking about security, sovereignty and stability. Ordinary people get the war, the shutdowns and the threat of escalation.
The State Monopoly
Pezeshkian made his remarks on the sidelines of a Brics summit in India during a meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. "We do not need a regional policeman: the territorial integrity and security of the region can only be guaranteed by its main players and the countries that comprise it," he said. The line sounds tidy enough. But the facts on the ground are uglier. The United States and Iran are already at war, and both sides are using the language of protection while fighting over shipping lanes and nuclear programs.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Wednesday that the war with the United States could end if Washington stopped threatening the Islamic Republic and met Tehran's conditions, including regarding its nuclear program. That is the familiar state script: end the war by accepting the terms of another armed authority. No one in uniform is offering people a way out of the machinery itself.
US President Donald Trump said in Dublin on Saturday that Iran was probably responsible for the attack on Saudi Arabia’s East-West oil pipeline. He also said he was confident the situation would be resolved, pointing to his relationship with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. "The Crown Prince is a good friend of mine. Everything will work out fine," he said. Asked about the Iran-backed Yemeni rebels, he said the Houthis "don’t want to fight with us". The line between diplomacy and patronage gets thinner every time a leader talks like a fixer for rival armed camps.
Infrastructure as a Target, People as the Cost
Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Energy on Friday announced that the vital East-West oil pipeline had been shut down as a precautionary measure after "multiple" attacks. The attacks on the pipeline in the Riyadh and Madinah regions happened on Thursday and resulted in injuries, the ministry said in a statement on X. Officials later said the pipeline was attacked by drones launched from Iraq, but added it would not retaliate for now, after a request from Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Al Zaidi.
The kingdom said it reserves the right to take all necessary measures to protect its sovereignty, security and critical facilities. The full pumping capacity through the East-West pipeline amounts to about seven million barrels per day. It links oil production sites in the Eastern Province with Yanbu on the west coast and gives Saudi Arabia flexibility to export from both coasts. That is the language of strategic assets. The people living under those systems get described only when they’re injured.
Following Riyadh's accusation that the strikes came from Iraq, Mr Al Zaidi ordered an investigation and dismissed a military commander over the incident. He issued a statement declaring Baghdad's "rejection of any aggression that threatens the kingdom's security and stability". The extent of the damage to the pipeline is unclear. Saudi Arabia said specialised technical teams were working to "secure the pipeline and assess its safety". The apparatus moves fast when infrastructure is hit. It moves much slower when civilians are the ones paying.
Regional Blocs, Same Logic
Before Mr Trump spoke, a wave of regional condemnation followed the attack on Saudi Arabia's East-West oil pipeline, with Gulf and Arab states warning that strikes on the kingdom's energy infrastructure mark a dangerous escalation. The Gulf Co-operation Council condemned the attack "in the strongest terms", calling for "necessary, decisive measures" to prevent Iraqi territory from being used to launch further attacks.
Qatar also strongly condemned attacks on civilian and economic sites as a flagrant breach of international law and a threat to regional security, while expressing full solidarity with Saudi Arabia. Jordan described the attack as a breach of Saudi sovereignty and said it supported measures taken by Riyadh to protect the kingdom, its people and resources. Bahrain also condemned the attack and stressed its solidarity with Saudi Arabia, while the Muslim World League described it as "treacherous and criminal" and backed the kingdom's right to protect its sovereignty and deter further attacks.
Bahrain noted the attack on Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline as one of several reasons it rejected a meeting proposed by Tehran, reportedly in Oman, to discuss the Strait of Hormuz, which has been under dual blockade by the US and Iran. "The Kingdom will not be a party to any collective meeting involving Iran prior to the restoration of diplomatic relations between the two countries," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday. The ministry said that Bahrain's position had been previously conveyed to Oman. "It neither diminishes the Kingdom’s appreciation for Oman’s sincere efforts nor alters its commitment to dialogue as a means of resolving disputes," the statement added.
Bahrain said that dialogue needs to involve facts, including attacks on its infrastructure and civilian assets such as the targeting of an ammonia tank "which nearly resulted in a catastrophic disaster". "Targeting civilian and economic facilities remains an imminent threat, not a past event," the ministry added. The words are polished. The reality is a region where states, armed groups and their patrons keep treating civilian life as collateral in a contest over routes, fuel and leverage.