--- title: The Arab World Is Anxious About a New Middle East Order description: The region is relieved about de-escalation. But it is also alarmed about an unrestrained Israel, writes H.A. Hellyer. canonical: https://time.com/7298676/iran-israel-conflict-arab-reaction/ author: H.A. Hellyer article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-06-30T16:03:20.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-19T08:08:23.518Z article:section: Ideas og:title: The Arab World Is Anxious About a New Middle East Order og:description: The region is relieved about de-escalation. But it is also alarmed about an unrestrained Israel, writes H.A. Hellyer. og:url: https://time.com/7298676/iran-israel-conflict-arab-reaction/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2e7ce26b4cd48a9e/6998c7e147fe514c5955bda7/GettyImages-2219583326.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Israeli-Airstrikes-in-Tehran og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Arab World Is Anxious About a New Middle East Order twitter:description: The region is relieved about de-escalation. But it is also alarmed about an unrestrained Israel, writes H.A. Hellyer. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2e7ce26b4cd48a9e/6998c7e147fe514c5955bda7/GettyImages-2219583326.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Iran-Israel War Is Over. But the Arab World Is Grappling With Its Consequences > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=59479c17-d1dd-40be-9d9e-f417cfc7c17d&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Trump Expects Iran to Open Itself to Inspection to Verify It Doesn't Restart Its Nuclear Program [Watch (HLS stream): Trump Expects Iran to Open Itself to Inspection to Verify It Doesn't Restart Its Nuclear Program](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/kfgEWhrJ.m3u8) (3:52)  _Published 2025-06-27. U.S. President Donald Trump said he expects Iran to open itself to international inspection to verify it doesn't restart its nuclear program._ by [H.A. Hellyer](https://time.com/author/h-a-hellyer/) ## H.A. Hellyer H.A. Hellyer is a Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute and a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress. Jun 30, 2025 4:03 PM UTC U.S. President Donald Trump said he expects Iran to open itself to international inspection to verify it doesn't restart its nuclear program. by [H.A. Hellyer](https://time.com/author/h-a-hellyer/) ## H.A. Hellyer H.A. Hellyer is a Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute and a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress. Jun 30, 2025 4:03 PM UTC The Iran-Israel ceasefire seems to be holding. Arab capitals are [relieved](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/06/24/israel-iran-ceasefire-qatar-nuclear/) about the de-escalation. But they are also [alarmed](https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2025/06/gulf-countries-fear-israel-iran-spillover) about what the latest flare up means for the Middle East. When Iran signed the JCPOA nuclear deal with the Obama Administration, its reception in the Arab Gulf was, at best, [frosty](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/4/14/why-saudi-arabia-and-israel-oppose-iran-nuclear-deal). The Iranian regime’s role in propping up Bashar al-Assad’s rule in Syria—one of the [most devastating in modern Arab history](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/12/world/middleeast/syria-prosecution-assad-regime.html)—combined with its nefarious influence in Iraq and Lebanon, ensured that Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain saw the deal [not as a diplomatic breakthrough](https://www.reuters.com/article/world/saudi-arabia-calls-iran-nuclear-deal-a-flawed-agreement-idUSKBN1GV2CA/), but as an endorsement of a destabilizing actor. So when President Donald Trump withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018, these same states [applauded](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/5/9/world-leaders-react-to-us-withdrawal-from-iranian-nuclear-deal) the move. Others in the region, including Egypt and Jordan, while more muted, also expressed concern about Tehran’s regional agenda. Yet fast forward to the present and the very [same](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/06/22/iran-strikes-arab-gulf-reaction/) states opposed a fight with Iran, and [support](https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/vindicated-unscathed-war-gulf-states-look-capitalise-israel-and-irans-losses) re-engagement. This U-Turn is not due to any newfound trust in Tehran. The Arab Gulf states, broadly speaking, remain deeply cynical about the Iranian regime. If the Islamic Republic could be replaced with something more pragmatic and less ideologically driven than Khomeini’s revolutionary doctrine, few in the Arab Gulf would mourn. But this cynicism has evolved into a pragmatic rejection of war—especially one at the behest of a belligerent Israel and a complicit Washington. For these reasons, the [overwhelming](https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/world-reacts-israeli-strike-iran-over-nuclear-programme-2025-06-13/) response in Arab capitals has been fierce [opposition](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/6/22/everlasting-consequences-world-reacts-to-us-attacks-on-iran) to Israel’s strikes, and America’s bombing on June 22. There are two core reasons for this opposition. First, these strikes are not happening in isolation. Over the past 20 months, Israel has waged a [deadly](https://www.ap.org/news-highlights/spotlights/2025/more-than-55000-palestinians-have-been-killed-in-the-israel-hamas-war-gaza-health-officials-say/) and [destructive](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/18/a-visual-guide-to-the-destruction-of-gaza) campaign in Gaza following the [Oct. 7 Hamas attack](https://time.com/6321849/israel-attack/), which has brought about a [genocide case at the International Court of Justice](https://time.com/6553912/israel-south-africa-icj-genocide/). Israel has also [expanded its military footprint](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/12/israel-to-occupy-syrian-southern-territory-for-unlimited-time-says-minister) beyond the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, amid the chaos following the ouster of Assad. And it has struck Beirut and parts of Lebanon repeatedly, including [within the past week](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/6/28/israeli-strikes-on-south-lebanon-kill-three-ministry). In short, even among states that are highly critical of Iran, there are [concerns](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/06/28/iran-saudi-arabia-uae-ties/) about an unrestrained Israel. A vision of a new regional order where Israel behaves with impunity while dictating security norms to its neighbors is [profoundly unwelcome](https://www.ft.com/content/8c9c2034-7d16-47d3-a57c-1a5483ca1d3f) to Arab states, including traditionally pro-Western Arab governments such as Saudi Arabia and Jordan. The second reason is more fundamental. For decades, Arab societies have criticized the West’s selective enforcement of international norms. That includes the [2003 Iraq war](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/sep/16/iraq.iraq), Israel’s ongoing [occupation in the West Bank](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1j5954edlno) and Gaza, and more recently the U.S. [denunciation of the ICJ case](https://thehill.com/policy/international/4398781-israel-gaza-blinken-genocide-case-meritless/) and [sanctioning of ICC judges](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce80pl1xrllo) after it issued arrest warrants for Israeli leaders. There is a perception that powerful Western states shield Tel Aviv from consequences. **Read More:**[_The West Is Losing the Global South Over Gaza_](https://time.com/6330746/global-south-ukraine-israel-gaza/) To be sure, the Arab states are hardly models of legality themselves. Various U.N. [reports](https://rolhr.undp.org/annualreport/2023/arab-states/region-overview.html) have repeatedly described an undemocratic region rife with issues around corruption, nepotism, and closed civil society spaces. But the powerful Western countries that erected the “rules-based” order should be exemplar pillars of it—otherwise, trust in the project altogether collapses. That’s why the [U.S. bombing of Iran](https://time.com/7296530/united-states-strikes-iran-world-leaders-react/)—using the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, the [heaviest non-nuclear weapon](https://www.businessinsider.com/what-we-know-bunker-buster-bombs-us-reportedly-hit-iran-2025-6) in its arsenal—set a dangerous precedent. Despite the undeniable nature of Iran being a nefarious actor in the region, there was [no imminent threat,](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/22/trump-iran-george-w-bush-netanyahu) no U.N. Security Council authorization, and no widespread international consensus to engage in such a military strike. The war between Iran and Israel is over, at least for now. Whether Iran’s nuclear program has been hobbled is a separate [question](https://www.thedailybeast.com/un-nuclear-watchdog-humiliates-trump-with-brutal-iran-assessment/), one that [analysts](https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iaea-chief-says-iran-could-be-enriching-uranium-within-months-2025-06-29/) and intelligence agencies will continue to assess in the weeks and months to come. But something else may have also ended. A new era is emerging in the region increasingly defined by a presumption that might equals right. The consequences of this have yet to be truly understood—but there are likely to be many repercussions indeed. ## Transcript I'm wondering now, sir, if you believe that Iran has given up its long history of ambitions with nuclear weapons or what you would like to see from them to prove that they do. And what type of meetings is your administration looking for? So Iran wants to meet. As you know, there are sites were obliterated. They're very evil nuclear sites. They were now has been proven. We had some fake news for a little while. The same people that covered the Hunter Biden laptop was from Russia. The same people that did 3 or 4 other. Russia, Russia, Russia hoax. No, no, wait, wait. Just listen. They came up with something that delayed the credit that our great pilots and these great American. I mean, they what talent that was. And they hit it right down in the spot. 52,000ft. Think of this dark, no moon. You couldn't see a thing. And they hit the refrigerator door, as they say. That's the size of a target. And overwhelmingly. And it's amazing what was done. We're the only ones that could have done it. And we took out the other two of the other sites also. In addition to that, we finished them off. That was a very evil intention. I believe that, and again, time will tell. But I don't believe that they're going to go back into nuclear anytime soon. They spent over $1 trillion on nuclear, and they never got it together. And nothing was moved from the site. By the way, to do that is very dangerous. It's very, very heavy material. Those cars were most likely the cars of masons because they were pouring concrete at the top, at the hatch, as you know, the hatch going into the nuclear site. They wanted to reinforce it, and they had some masons there pouring concrete. By the way, that concrete was obliterated. It hit exactly at the concrete. It was I don't think it had a chance to dry, but everything's down there. It's under millions of tons of rock. As you go into negotiations and talks with Iran, are you demanding not only that, there would be no uranium production inside of Iran, but also that Iran would turn over all existing stockpiles of uranium? Well, you know, we're a little early for that, but something like that. Yeah, we'll do something like that. Let me say that I've been saying for 25 years, even as a civilian, you cannot let them have a nuclear weapon. And that's what happened. It's been obliterated. It would be years before they could ever get going. And I really think it's probably the last thing they have to recover from. A hell of a tough war. Would you also be demanding that the IAEA have full rights to inspect in Iran or somebody? Yeah. Or somebody that we respect, including ourselves. Sir, are you concerned at all about secret nuclear sites in Iran? You talk about maybe just. Secret nuclear. Sites? Yes, there might be some. What can I tell you? They're exhausted. And Israel's exhausted, too. And I dealt with both of them, and they both wanted it settled. Both of them. And we did a great job. But they're exhausted. The last thing they're thinking about right now is nuclear. You know what they're thinking of. They're thinking about tomorrow, trying to live in such a mess. It's such a mess. The place was bombed to hell. And, no, I'm not worried about it at all. And I'm putting out a little statement. I'm going to respond to the Ayatollah's statement yesterday that we won the war. Won the war. And I said, look, you're a man of great faith, a man who is highly respected in his country. You have to tell the truth. You got beat to hell. And Israel was beat up, too. They were both beat up. And it was a great time to end it. It was quick. They got the hate out. A lot of hate. A lot of hate. It would be great if they didn't have that hate. But the last thing they're thinking about is nuclear weapons right now. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7298676/iran-israel-conflict-arab-reaction/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7298676/iran-israel-conflict-arab-reaction/"},"headline":"The Iran-Israel War Is Over. 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