the us empire has a track record of smacking down their puppet governments in the gulf region whenever they try to invest in their country's infrastructure like this because the empire fears that it might make them more independent of its control.

they're only allowed to develop in a way that benefits the us empire and it's gotten to such a bizarre extreme that the leaders of the people in the region have an expression for it:

My grandfather rode a camel, my father rode a camel, I drive a Mercedes, my son drives a Land Rover, his son will drive a Land Rover, but his son will ride a camel.