US President Donald Trump on Friday urged Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accords and claimed he had "saved" the Middle East from Iran.
Saudi Arabia has so far been resistant to join the accords, a broad set of agreements first signed by the UAE and Bahrain in 2020 to recognise Israel.
"It's time now," Mr Trump said in a keynote address delivered to the Saudi-backed Future Investment Initiative Forum in Miami, Florida, during which he claimed he "saved the Middle East" from Iran.
"And it was proven by all the rockets fired down upon you," pointing to the large Saudi delegation in Miami.
Iran has retaliated against the US by launching sweeping attacks on energy sites across the Middle East.
"For 47 years Iran has been known as the bully of the Middle East, but they're not the bully any longer. They're on the run," he said to applause before saying Iran's navy, air force and leadership have been decimated.
Earlier on Friday, Steve Witkoff, Mr Trump's envoy to the Middle East, said there could be meetings between the US and Iran "this week".
"We're certainly hopeful for it. Ships are passing. That's a very, very good sign," Mr Witkoff said during his panel discussion.
Mr Trump also lashed out against allies who have so far not heeded to his calls to form a coalition to secure the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway through which one-fifth of the world's oil consumption passes. Traffic has effectively halted since the co-ordinated US-Israeli strikes on Iran began late last month.
"This is Nato, and I've always said there's a paper tiger," he said.
In his remarks Mr Trump also thanked UAE President Sheikh Mohamed, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim, and other partners including Bahrain, Turkey and Indonesia.
Conflict weighs on investment forum
The FII Priority summit in Miami was billed as a platform for Gulf and US companies to conduct business. Now in its fourth year, the summit is operating under the tagline “capital in motion”.
This year's backdrop is in stark contrast to 2025, when Mr Trump boasted of major private-sector investment pledges, touted the US-Saudi relationship, highlighted his 2024 presidential election win, and his desire to be “a peacemaker” and “keep us out of war”.
Today, Gulf states have lamented that they have been dragged into a war they do not want and one that is expected to weaken economic growth in the region.
Gulf countries, which are major oil producers, have announced significant shut-ins in recent weeks due to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz and sweeping Iranian attacks on key energy sites, leading to one of the biggest oil disruptions in history.
Saudi Arabia is perhaps better positioned to absorb the economic impact of the conflict because it can export oil through its East-West pipeline, and because it is less reliant on foreign labour and investment.
Estimates from Goldman Sachs say Saudi Arabia's GDP will decline roughly 5 per cent this year, while the UAE faces a contraction of possibly 8 to 10 per cent, although this these figures could change due to uncertainty over the conflict's duration and impact.
“I would certainly expect non-oil growth to take a hit across the region. Dubai is clearly getting the biggest hit of anyone from what we can see in the limited data out there but I think confidence, investment, willingness to visit the region, broader logistics are all being affected,” said Tim Callen, visiting fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute.
Despite this uncertainty, leaders from Saudi Arabia and the UAE have reaffirmed their countries' investment commitments. They pledged to invest $2 trillion into the US during Mr Trump's landmark visit to the Gulf last May.
Investment relationship
FII chief executive Richard Attias told The National in an interview last week he expected billions of dollars in deals to be made between US and Gulf firms this week. On Thursday, the PIF-backed artificial intelligence company Humain made its first deal with a US company as it announced a partnership with Turing.
Humain is a key pillar of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030, one of the economic diversification programmes that are underway in the Gulf to shift diversify away from oil.
Justin Alexander, director of Khalij Economics and a non-resident fellow at the Baker Institute, said the war has exposed data centres' vulnerabilities to aerial strikes.
"You can launch a cheap drone and knock out expensive data centres," he said.
Still, Mr Alexander expects the Gulf to continue playing a key role in AI due to its capital, cheap energy and access to advanced AI chips.
Mr Alexander also said the war could strengthen the case for Gulf nations to receive advanced AI chips from the US on a more expedited basis
"I think the Gulf would have a strong case to strengthen the relationship and lead to a higher supply of AI chips," he said.
Iranian energy sites
Mr Trump on Thursday extended a deadline for attacking Iranian energy sites by 10 days, citing “productive conversations” with Tehran. US special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said in Washington earlier on Thursday that Iran was presented with a 15-point plan to reach a peace deal. Jared Kushner, Mr Trump's son-in-law who has worked in the discussions with Mr Witkoff, did not offer updates on negotiations on Thursday, only saying the President wants Iran to behave “like a normal country”.
The World Bank Group said it is ready to respond “at scale” to provide immediate relief, saying that a number of its clients in emerging markets have reached out to it for assistance.
