The silence from Riyadh and Abu Dhabi was not necessarily neutrality. It may instead have been an attempt to fight a shadow war without openly triggering a much larger regional explosion.

Saudi Arabia and Iran held high-level talks as tensions around the Strait of Hormuz intensified amid fears of a wider regional conflict. Abbas Araghchi said he spoke with his Saudi counterpart on May 11 to discuss ongoing Iran-U.

Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan held separate phone talks on Monday with his Iranian and Pakistani counterparts where discussions focused on the ongoing negotiations between Iran and the United States,