The dilemma for the Gulf states is that geography is ⁠immutable. Decades of confrontation have failed to alter a simple reality: Iran's position alongside the region's energy and trade arteries makes it an unavoidable player in any Gulf security equation.

A six-member bloc of Gulf states is weighing a meeting with Iranian officials next week to discuss the future of the Strait of Hormuz, people familiar with the matter said, in what would be the first gathering with the Islamic Republic since war erupted more than six months ago.

Iranian officials say a meeting with Gulf states to discuss the Strait of Hormuz has been postponed, dealing a blow to efforts to reopen the strait.

An advance by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, which has included the targeting of Saudi cities and infrastructure, has quickly complicated a widening Middle East war. Not only has it all but unraveled a 2022 truce putting a lid on Yemen’s civil war – in which the Iran-aligned Houthis were fighting a Saudi-led coalition – but the seizure of territory next to the Red Sea has further threatened Saudi energy exports.

Amazon data centers in the U.A.E. and Bahrain are still offline months after being hit in the Iran war, testing the region’s multibillion-dollar ambitions.

Why let Donald Trump have all the fun?

The American presence in these countries has not shielded them from retaliation during the Iran war. Now they are hoping direct talks with Iran could help.

In this week’s Fortune Gulf Brief.