UAE, Qatar push for quick end to Iran war as air defense stocks dwindle, report says

According to the report, they are concerned about economic effects from a prolonged oil supply shock and rapidly depleting stocks of air defense ammunition.

“The countries are seeking to build a wide coalition to advance a swift and diplomatic end to the conflict, the people said, in order to prevent regional escalation and a prolonged energy price shock,” Bloomberg wrote.

“Qatar’s stocks of Patriot interceptor missiles will last four days at the current rate of use, according to an internal analysis seen by Bloomberg News.”

To that end, Qatari and UAE leaders held phone calls with UK PM Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, sources told the journalists.

The United States and Israel launched a joint air strikes campaign against Iran on Feb. 28. The opening salvo killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, along with several other senior military and civilian officials.

While Washington hopes the decapitation strike will topple the regime and usher in a less anti-Western government in Tehran, Iran has responded with sustained missile and drone strikes against both military and civilian targets in Bahrain, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia (in addition to Israel and U.S. bases in the region).