A senior official from the United Arab Emirates has criticised the country’s Gulf allies over their response to Iranian retaliatory attacks in the region, following the Israeli-US strikes that launched the Middle East war, AFP reports.

Presidential advisor Anwar Gargash says the Gulf states supported each other logistically in the crisis, but has lambasted their political and military response.

“The GCC’s stance was the weakest historically, considering the nature of the attack and the threat it posed to everyone,” Gargash says, referring to the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council.

Gargash adds he “expected such a weak stance from the Arab League”, the 22-member organisation of Middle East and North African nations based in Cairo.

“But I don’t expect it from the GCC, and I am surprised by it,” he tells a conference in Dubai.

Gulf monarchies have always had “difficult relations” with Iran, Gargash says, adding that in recent years they pursued a “containment policy” through mediation, energy partnerships, strategic agreements and, in the case of the UAE, trade ties.

But “these policies have failed miserably, and we are now facing a major reassessment”, he states.