New Delhi, July 2 -- DUBAI - The six Gulf Cooperation Council states did not back the US-Iran deal because they trust Tehran. They backed it because they had watched a war start on their doorstep and calculated that the alternative, permanent military conflict next door, was worse than whatever risks a negotiated settlement carried.

That calculation, documented in analysis from the Center for Strategic and International Studies and Chatham House published in June and reported by Al Jazeera, explains the posture Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain have collectively adopted toward the Islamabad MoU. All six GCC states publicly welcomed the agreement. The enthusiasm is conditioned on outcomes the MoU has not y...