In this analysis for ORF Middle East, I take stock of the events happening throughout the 2026 United Nations General Assembly, the 81st time member states have convened:
- US President Trump said that he is weighing whether to “annihilate” Iran, even as Tehran continues to build layers of problems to insulate the nuclear file that started the war.
- Iran has opened a second maritime chokepoint at Bab al-Mandeb, forced Saudi Arabia’s Hormuz bypass pipeline to go offline for 11 days, and struck Riyadh itself, multiplying the fronts Washington must manage.
- After months of fractured GCC positioning, Gulf states now appear to converge on one demand: to be dealt with as a bloc by Iran.
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