ABSTRACT
Since its inception in 1981, the external military and internal revolutionary capabilities of the Islamic Republic of Iran certainly served as one of the principal catalysts for the emergence of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The outlook for improved GCC-Iranian relations looked good given the diplomatic exchanges that several of the Gulf states had had with Tehran during 1985. The establishment of a unified Gulf currency was reportedly under study. Subsequent reports speculated that the Gulf Cooperation Council states had decided to build up their individual Air Forces as part of an effort to establish an air patrol against attacks on merchant shipping heading for Gulf ports. The closest event to an outright conflict between two member GCC states occurred on 26 April when a token force of Qatari troops seized the Bahraini-controlled island of Fasht al-Dibal in an apparent attempt to assert Qatar's sovereignty over the disputed territory.
