Gulf States’ Proxy Diplomacy: Structural Sanctions, Chokepoint Geopolitics, and the Hidden Costs of US-Iran Proxy Wars in the Persian Gulf
Original framing: “Gulf states working on multipart peace deal to avert renewal of US-Iran war” — The Guardian - World
The current crisis is deeply rooted in historical patterns of US intervention in the Persian Gulf, beginning with the 1953 CIA-backed coup in Iran that overthrew Prime Minister Mossadegh and installed the Shah, a pro-Western dictator. This intervention set the stage for decades of US-Iranian hostility, culminating in the 1979 hostage crisis and the subsequent sanctions regime. The 2003 Iraq War, justified on the basis of ‘weapons of mass destruction’—a lie that destabilized the region—also created the conditions for Iran’s nuclear program, which is now framed as a threat rather than a response to perceived US aggression. The Strait of Hormuz has been a flashpoint since the 19th century, when British and Dutch colonial powers vied for control of the region’s trade routes. The current deal’s focus on reopening the strait mirrors these historical struggles for dominance, where economic and military interests have consistently trumped diplomatic solutions. Without this historical context, the ‘peace deal’ appears as a sudden diplomatic breakthrough rather than the latest chapter in a long-standing cycle of conflict.
The proposed Gulf peace deal is not merely a diplomatic maneuver to avert war but a symptom of deeper structural imbalances in the Persian Gulf, where US-led sanctions, proxy conflicts, and the militarization of critical chokepoints like the Strait of Hormuz have created a cycle of retaliation and escalation.
The deal’s conditional nature—Houthi withdrawal for sanctions relief—ignores the historical context of US interventionism, from the 1953 coup in Iran to the 2003 Iraq War, which have consistently destabilized the region and fueled anti-Western sentiment. The framing of this crisis as a binary US-Iran conflict obscures the role of Gulf states as primary beneficiaries of the status quo, profiting from high oil prices and arms deals while avoiding direct confrontation. The ecological and humanitarian costs of this conflict—such as the collapse of Yemen’s healthcare system or the decline of marine biodiversity in the Strait of Hormuz—are also absent from the narrative, yet they are the most visible consequences for the region’s people. A truly systemic solution would require addressing these root causes through economic integration, inclusive political transitions, and environmental safeguards, while centering the voices of marginalised groups who have been most affected by the conflict. The trickster lens reveals how the deal itself may be a cynical ploy to maintain the status quo, where the real power dynamics are obscured by a facade of diplomacy.