US-Iran War: Why Gulf States Must Realign Their Billions in Defense Spending

TVS News AI, editorially supervised, presents US-Iran War: Why Gulf States Must Realign Their Billions in Defense Spending.

4,670 drones, more than 1,400 missiles – the threat facing the Gulf states is that massive and severe. According to an investigation by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, or IISS, the Gulf states must realign their defense spending worth billions. The reasons are the economic damage caused by the US-Iran War, the questionable value of American military bases and the region’s heavy dependence on Washington.

For anyone watching the region, this sounds like a fundamental debate about security. The issue is not only what to do with individual military posts, but also how the Gulf states should respond to attacks when American assistance is becoming increasingly less assured.

The report’s main message is a warning: The existing reliance on American support, particularly alongside costly high-tech systems, is vulnerable under the conditions of a regional war. Whether a realignment actually succeeds remains the central open question.

Twelve States Came Under Attack With Drones and Missiles

In the weeks before the April 8 ceasefire, 12 regional states came under attack, with the focus clearly on the Gulf region. According to figures cited in the IISS report, there were 4,670 Iranian one-way attack drones and more than 1,400 ballistic missiles.

Almost half of the attacks targeted the United Arab Emirates. This explains why the question of American bases and American military assistance is particularly immediate for the UAE. A site from which an attack is to be intercepted or a counterstrike launched may lose some of its value if the base itself is within range of Iranian missiles.

The scale of these operations also makes clear that this was not a matter of isolated special operations. A coalition of several states had to deal with a large number of simultaneous attacks.

The Greatest Damage May Have Been to Energy Infrastructure

Despite the sheer scale of the attacks, military defenses were evidently effective: The overwhelming majority were intercepted. But intercepted missiles and drones do not automatically prevent economic consequences.

An estimate cited in the IISS report puts the damage to energy infrastructure at up to $58 billion, equivalent to £43 billion. This figure refers to infrastructure damage, not to defense spending or the cost of interception.

This brings a second aspect into focus: A security architecture can intercept attacks and still prove expensive if facilities are hit. According to the report, this was a central reason to question the existing defense structures.

Why Dependence on the US Is Becoming a Problem

At the core of the IISS report is criticism of the Gulf states’ heavy dependence on American support. The existing security architecture appeared to assume that Washington would provide support and that the American military presence would account for part of the region’s deterrence.

The report now shows, however, that American bases themselves can become targets. This presents the Gulf states with a dual challenge: They still need support, but cannot make the protection of that support their sole responsibility. The report examines these questions as part of a reconfiguration of defense systems.

According to IISS, there is also overdependence on expensive high-end systems. The report does not therefore question the existence of modern weapons systems, but their strategic alignment: Is too much being invested in a few costly solutions while gaps remain elsewhere across the entire defense architecture?

The Real Question: How Much Security Can Regional Self-Reliance Provide?

The report’s findings open a debate but do not answer every question. The published figures demonstrate the scale of the attacks, the substantial damage to energy infrastructure and the urgency of adapting. At the same time, they show that the Gulf states were able to intercept a large share of the incoming projectiles during the attacks.

The focus is therefore not a simple choice between American assistance and complete independence. It is a more realistic question: What capabilities, reserves and decision-making channels do the Gulf states need if outside support cannot be guaranteed and sophisticated systems themselves can become targets?

For the region, this is not purely a defense issue. Potential damage of up to $58 billion to energy infrastructure shows how directly military decisions affect economic stability. The IISS report therefore calls for a realignment of security strategy after a phase in which 12 states faced more than 6,000 drones and missiles.