Politico reports:

For years, they urged America to take a harder line on Iran, dissed its decision to ink a nuclear deal with Tehran and cheered when a tough-talking Donald Trump won the presidency.

Now, America’s closest Middle East allies are practically ducking for cover.

In recent days, as the U.S. killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and Iran fired back with a missile barrage in Iraq, Gulf Arab states and Israel were expressing second thoughts about what they’d helped unleash.

Saudi officials called for “restraint” to avoid “aggravating the situation.” The United Arab Emirates stressed “the importance of dialogue and political solutions.” Even Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who publicly praised Trump’s decision to take out Soleimani, privately told aides that the killing “isn’t an Israeli event but an American event” according to Israeli media accounts. “We were not involved and should not be dragged into it.”

These U.S. partners’ caution is remarkable given their past calls for America to “cut off the head of the snake” in Tehran, including by attacking Iranian nuclear sites.

It reflects pointed Iranian threats — and the recognition that a war could upend their economies and threaten their governments. But it also reflects uncertainty about whether the famously fickle Trump will stand by them in the long run. [Continue reading…]