PARIS, October 11. /TASS/. Gulf countries have strengthened their ties with Iran and are working to reassure Tehran that they will not support Israel, aiming to avoid involvement in the Middle East conflict, regional experts told the AFP news agency in a commentary.

"Gulf states are trying to leverage improved relations with Iran to avoid being caught in the middle of an Israel-Iran escalation," Anna Jacobs, an expert at the International Crisis Group think tank, told the agency.

The analyst added that the Gulf countries are trying not to be drawn into the conflict in the Middle East and are making sure that "Israel doesn't use any of their airspace for any attacks." According to Ali Shihabi, an expert close to the Saudi government, the kingdom in particular intends to confirm that it "will not allow any party to use its airspace to attack the other."

Reuters reported on October 9 that Iran warned Gulf states of their responsibility to provide military assistance or airspace to Israel in an alleged Israeli retaliatory attack in response to a recent Iranian missile strike. According to the agency's source, Iran issued this warning during Islamic Republic President Masoud Pezeshkian's visit to Qatar on October 3.

On the evening of October 1, Iran launched a massive missile attack on Israel as a response for the killings of the key leaders of Hamas, Hezbollah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Tehran claimed that 90% of the missiles hit their intended targets, while Israel said that Iran only launched 180 missiles and most of them were intercepted.