Karim Sadjadpour

complicit in any operation because they fear the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Iran has attacked them in the past.

They've used their regional proxies like the Houthis in Yemen, who are still a menace to attack those countries.

And one of the lessons I learned, Scott, I did a Fulbright in Beirut about over 20 years ago.

And my big takeaway from that year is that

It takes decades, if not centuries, to build things, and it takes weeks to destroy them.

And those countries, I take my hat off to them, in particular the United Arab Emirates.

You know, I tell people in 1979, Iran and the United Arab Emirates went to the same elevator.

And Iran pushed down, and the United Arab Emirates pushed up.

And the gap between these two countries is really enormous.

When you think about, Iran is...

more than 20 times the size of UAE.

Iran has the human resources, the natural resources, the history to be a G20 power.

But it's none of those things.

It's a global pariah.

And the United Arab Emirates, which was really a backwater five decades ago, has emerged as this global hub for transport, for technology.

for geopolitics, and they have a lot to lose here because they know that Iran could come by in a week or so unleashing its missiles, rockets, and drones and destroying what has taken them many decades to build.

And for that reason, none of those countries in the Gulf are going to publicly support U.S.

military action against Iran.

I think privately the advice they give is probably a little different, but one of the things I would argue that they are all worried about is what they call a hit-and-run attack.