The Gulf Cooperation Council has agreed to establish an advanced headquarters for its Unified Military Command in Kuwait and station an appropriate number of military forces there.
The decision was announced by the GCC General Secretariat after defence ministers from the six member states met in Bahrain on Tuesday. No details have been released about the headquarters’ location, its timetable or the size and composition of the force.
The GCC said its leaders had stressed the importance of improving defence coordination to address current and future threats facing the region.
“The leaders of the GCC states – may God protect and preserve them – consistently emphasise the necessity and importance of strengthening this blessed Gulf journey, enabling it to confront various challenges and threats, both present and future,” the organisation said in a statement.
The council comprises Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, all of which are US allies.
GCC Unified Military Command headquarters in Kuwait
The Unified Military Command was established at a GCC summit in Kuwait in December 2013. It was designed to oversee joint military operations and strengthen collective defence of member states’ territory, airspace, maritime areas and wider interests.
Most GCC countries host major US military installations and were targeted by Iranian missile and drone attacks in the weeks after the US-Israel war on Iran began on February 28, according to the material released by the council.
The conflict disrupted air travel and shipping and prompted concerns about the security of the region’s oil and gas exports. It also coincided with renewed fighting in Yemen, where Iran-aligned Houthis have been battling forces backed by Saudi Arabia’s internationally recognised government.
The escalation followed the collapse in July of a United Nations-brokered ceasefire that had largely held since 2022. The Houthis have also attacked sites across Saudi Arabia, including Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport.
An attack on the airport last month killed 14 people and injured more than 300, making it the deadliest assault on Saudi Arabia in more than a decade.
