Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) leaders met at an emergency summit in the Saudi city of Jeddah on Tuesday and emerged with a unified stance against Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz and pledged deeper collective security cooperation amid the ongoing regional crisis.

The exceptional consultative meeting, the first in-person gathering of Gulf leaders since the US-Israel war on Iran erupted on February 28, produced key decisions on joint energy infrastructure and missile defence, as the six-member bloc sought to project unity despite internal divisions.

Here are five things to know about the summit and what it means for the region:

First in-person Gulf summit since Iran war began

This was the first such meeting since the war broke out and Iran began striking GCC member states in retaliation.

The consultative summit brought together leaders and officials from all six GCC member states to coordinate a unified response to the ongoing crisis.

The meeting comes at a time when a fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran has been holding since April 8, but diplomatic talks remain uncertain.

Gulf capitals remain deeply wary of a resumption of hostilities, with the summit seen as a long-overdue attempt to present a collective front. Iran warned it will retaliate “more forcefully than before” if attacked again, despite saying it does not seek renewed escalation.

Rejection of Strait of Hormuz closure

One of the summit's most significant outcomes was a unified GCC rejection of Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz, with the bloc's secretary-general Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, declaring Iranian disruption of ships in the narrow waterway as "illegal."

Albudaiwi stressed the need to restore maritime security and ensure freedom of passage.

Leaders called for free and secure navigation in the waterway and rejected any fees that Iran wants to impose on ships crossing the strait.

The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world's most critical energy chokepoints, with roughly one-fifth of global oil supply passing through it daily before the war.

Its disruption since early March has sent oil prices soaring, with Brent crude sitting around $112 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate breaking $100 for the first time in two weeks.

UAE withdraws from OPEC

The summit was overshadowed by a bombshell announcement from the United Arab Emirates, which said it would withdraw from OPEC and OPEC+ to focus on "national interests" as energy prices soar.

The move by one of the world's top oil producers signals fissures in cooperation with other oil-producing countries in the region.

The UAE has also been the GCC's most vocal critic internally.

Senior UAE official Anwar Gargash called the bloc's response to the Iran war "the weakest in history," saying he had expected such weakness from the Arab League but not from the GCC, remarks that set a tense backdrop for the Jeddah gathering.

The UAE was represented at the summit by its foreign minister, Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, rather than by the head of state.

On the table: Joint pipeline and missile defence

Beyond the Hormuz dispute, GCC leaders ordered swift steps towards building a joint oil and gas pipeline, a move aimed at reducing dependence on the strait for energy exports.

Leaders also agreed to establish a joint early warning system to counter ballistic missile threats, signalling a shift towards deeper collective security cooperation and integrated Gulf defence, enhancing missile detection, deterrence and collective security cooperation.

The decisions reflect the scale of damage Gulf states have sustained since the war began. Iranian missile and drone attacks have struck energy infrastructure, US-linked firms, civilian installations, and military sites across all six GCC member states over the past two months.

What the summit could not solve

Despite the show of unity, the summit faces significant limitations.

US-Iran peace talks remain stalled, with negotiations held in Islamabad on April 11 ending without an agreement.

US President Donald Trump extended the ceasefire at Pakistan's request pending a proposal from Tehran, but no breakthrough has been announced.

The security situation remains volatile. Drones targeted Baghdad's Green Zone this week in the first such incident since the April 8 ceasefire, while Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon killed eight people on Tuesday despite a separate ceasefire there.

For Gulf leaders, Tuesday's summit may be a starting point, but the harder diplomatic work lies ahead as their lifeline, the Strait of Hormuz, remains off-limits.