NEW YORK, March 2. /TASS/. Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are privately lobbying their allies to convince US President Donald Trump to reduce the military operation against Iran, Bloomberg reports.
The countries are seeking to build a wide coalition to advance a swift and diplomatic end to the conflict to prevent regional escalation and a prolonged energy price shock.
Earlier, Trump said the American-Israeli operation against the Islamic Republic could last four to five weeks.
Privately, both the UAE and Qatar are working to improve their air defense capabilities quickly.
The UAE has requested assistance from its allies with medium-range air defense, while Qatar has asked for help to counter drone attacks — which have emerged as a greater threat than ballistic missiles.
On February 28, the United States and Israel launched a military operation against Iran, hitting major Iranian cities, including Tehran. The White House justified the attack by missile and nuclear threats allegedly coming from Tehran.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps retaliated with a sweeping attack on Israel. US targets in Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia were also hit. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and some other key Iranian figures were killed.