On May 13 and 14, United States President Barack Obama will address some leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (gcc) in a bid to calm nations growing increasingly fearful. The high-level talks will be a vital opportunity for the president to persuade the gcc nations that they can continue to rely on the backing and support of the U.S. However, four of the six Gulf nations’ leaders will not attend the summit. That so many leaders would skip an opportunity to personally speak with the president of the world’s singular superpower speaks volumes about America’s sliding influence and status within the region.

Some of the key issues that are undoubtedly keeping the gcc unsettled at the moment revolve around the U.S.’s relationship with Iran.

The Obama administration has maintained its six-year infatuation with the idea of an Iran-U.S. reconciliation. The sudden transition from near-frigid relations under the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the temperate relationship now maintained under Hassan Rouhani has sent the gcc scrambling.

When Iran was crippled under the weight of sanctions and ostracized by much of the international community, the gcc nations were able to maintain a counterweight to Iran. But with the U.S. accepting and endorsing Iran as a key player in Middle East politics, the gcc nations are struggling to hold their positions of power.

Sanctions relief and unfrozen assets have breathed new life into Iran. Since nuclear negotiations began—and subsequently billions of dollars were injected into the ailing Iranian economy—we see a Middle Eastern powerhouse that extends influence from Pakistan to the pyramids and beyond.

The gcc is aware of this spread and is struggling to stop it. Take any member of the gcc—Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates—none of these nations are safe from Iran. Militarily, none, not even the rich Saudis, have a military capable of providing a legitimate deterrent to Iran. As such, when the gcc sees Iran gaining support from the ever capitulating United States, it starts to fear.

In effect, it is more than just a fear of what Iran may do. It is a fear of what America may not do.

The gcc nations see what happened in Ukraine and wonder whether they may find themselves in the same situation. What if Iran invaded? Would the U.S. honor its agreement to come to their aid? After all, the U.S. promised Ukraine that if it gave up its nuclear weapons the U.S. would defend it. Today, however, Crimea remains in Russian hands, and war continues along the border provinces. The U.S. promised to protect Georgia too, but that didn’t happen. Then there were the broken promises to enforce “red lines” in Syria.

If the U.S. cannot be taken at its word when dealing with Russia, can it be trusted with Iran? That is undoubtedly the question being asked by leaders of the gcc nations.

The gcc nations’ displeasure is starting to show as U.S. inaction continues to endanger the region. Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz decided not to attend the Camp David summit, which some analysts consider to be a diplomatic snub. The only national leaders to attend will be from Kuwait and Qatar. The other nations will send only lower-ranked representatives.

The gcc nations are sending a clear message to the U.S. that they are unhappy with the current policies being implemented. Avoiding the Camp David summit—one of the largest events on the gcc-U.S. calendar—shows that the gcc and Washington are at considerable odds over President Obama’s strategies.

Relations between the two parties can be expected to remain frosty as the U.S. ignores what the gcc believes to be the chief security concern for the region. With Washington fixated on making a deal with Iran on its nuclear program, the needs and wishes of the gcc will not be met any time soon. Neither will the fears of America’s long-standing Arab partners be assuaged by a few guarantees at Camp David.

According to Reuters, White House officials said the summit would produce announcements on integrating ballistic missile defense systems and increasing joint military exercises. But with Iran supporting the Houthi coup in Yemen, sailing its battleships up the Red Sea, inching closer to the nuclear bomb, conducting unprecedented military action in Iraq, acquiring billions of dollars to continue funding its terrorist proxies in the region, and of course being unshackled from the restraints of sanctions, the U.S. is offering too little too late.

Iran is continuing to prove that the gcc nations’ fears are well founded.

The relationship between the gcc and the U.S. is a tenuous one. Watch these relations fracture further. The Trumpet has long forecast a change in direction for many of the Sunni Arab nations. They still need defense from abroad, but they will increasingly seek it from somewhere other than the United States.

Curious to know where they will turn for help? Read Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry’s article “A Mysterious Prophecy.”