Khalil Ali Haidar
Which is more dangerous in the Arab region, the Islamic Republic of Iran or the Islamic State (IS)? Saleh Qallab, Jordan’s former information minister, put it frankly: “Iran is a thousand times more dangerous than IS.”
He added: “This terrorist organisation, whose crimes have exceeded all limits, is just a small group which can be blockaded and eliminated in the end. As for Iran, things are more complex and dangerous; they practically dominate four Arab countries: Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.” (Middle East News 5/3/2015).
Iran’s dominance of Iraq may be a very dangerous development, according to the analysis of Mona Elmay, a Middle East News correspondent, who said: “With the vast resources of Iraq, the Iraqi Shia militias remain much richer than the Lebanese Hezbollah.” (Middle East News 2/3/2015).
Iran is in a bitter conflict with Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states and other Arab countries, and it has supported the Syrian regime for four years, with hundreds of thousands of people affected.
All wise people in Iran and among the Shias resent this. They remember very well that most of the terrorists who came to Iraq after 2003 and killed thousands of Shias were trained in Latakia in Syria and were allowed to enter Iraq. Iran could have put pressure on Syria to stop that, but it didn’t, because like Syria, Iran feared Iraq’s success after the fall of Saddam Hussein.
A prominent media expert, Abdul Rahman Al Rashed, said: “Iran is at the Saudi frontiers.”
He added: “Riyadh and Tehran had met before in the wake of Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait, and initiated a reconciliation agreement at the time of then Iranian president Hashemi Rafsanjani. Tensions between these two countries ended, including their political differences. But the reconciliation did not last more than five years, as the Saudis discovered that the Iranians had not suspended their export activities. So, the reconciliation was frozen.
Today, Iran is in attack mode, for the first time in our modern history. As for why we are calling on Iran, and not Saudi Arabia, to hold back is because Tehran is always attacking, while Riyadh is defending.” (Middle East News)
Today Iran is facing four problems of its own making. None of these help defend the Iranian people’s interests or the interests of mainstream Shias in Iran and abroad.
These are:
1. Interference in Arab affairs using undiplomatic means and without taking into account international conventions. The most prominent example is the creation of Hezbollah and political support for it against the rest of the Shias, all minorities and whoever opposes it in Lebanon. Iran has provided Hezbollah weapons and engaged it in the war against Syrian people and their political forces.
Similar policies are used in Iraq on a larger scale, and no one knows when this will end. Of course, the Iranians have no interest in expending their wealth, destroying their political reputation, and sabotaging their relationships and their work opportunities in the Gulf states by adopting policies the Arabs don’t agree with. What is worse is that the Iranian people don’t have any right to object to any of these policies.
2. Despite the world approving of the peaceful use of nuclear technology by Iran or any other country, Tehran’s nuclear policy and enrichment of uranium are suspicious and raise fears in the region and the world. The development of missiles and the radical Iranian media could add to Iran’s isolation, apart from causing financial wastage that nobody in Iran dares to object to.
3. For more than 30 years Iran has been hostile to the United States and other Western countries without justification. Iran has failed to convince its people and neighbours about the wisdom of this policy. Iran has the right to agree or disagree with anyone, but will persisting with such a policy cause a meltdown in its foreign policy?
From this policy, the Iranian people have gained only poverty, isolation, a weak currency and difficulty in getting visas or jobs anywhere in the world.
By some estimates, Iranian funds to the tune of $130bn are frozen in Asian banks alone. An article published in a French newspaper said: “South Korea gives around a billion dollars to Iran every month via the Sultanate of Oman. A dealer and businessmen said that bags containing $50m are delivered to the central bank of Iran via Tehran’s airport, bypassing customs.” (Al Hayah 4/3/2015)
Perhaps the story is a baseless exaggeration by the media, but what is certain is that this money and all the frozen funds will not enrich Iran or benefit its people unless the country opens up and manages its affairs transparently.
4. No one understands why Iran insists on considering itself the decision-maker for the Palestinians, who should formulate their own strategies.
The Palestinian issue is closely related to the Arabs and shouldn’t be manipulated by Iran, which cannot deal with it.
We have seen how the Palestinians sided with Turkey after receiving nothing but political spin. So why does Iran attempt what is impossible, rejecting all solutions and encouraging Hamas to persist with a costly policy?
Why does Iran create all these problems for itself? Why do the Iranian people, both Shia and Sunni, find themselves coming out of a closed circle only to enter another one, again and again?
Many praise the skills of Iranian politicians and intelligence planners, and their patience in dealing with their opponents and rivals. These “good qualities” could be real. But what do Iranians gain from them? What wealth and progress have Iranians achieved after three decades of isolation and hostility towards neighbouring countries and the international community?
A CNN analyst said: “The Americans do not accept the point of view of the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, equating IS with Iran. If Iran were like IS there would not have been twenty thousand Jews living in Iran, having 11 synagogues.” (Qabas 10/3/2015)
Even if you don’t subscribe to extreme views critical of Iran, what do you make of the statement of Ali Yonsei, advisor to President Hassan Rouhani for spiritual and religious affairs and minorities, who said: “Iraq is not only a part of our cultural influence, but also of our identity... Baghdad is our capital today. This is irreversible, because the existing geographical and cultural relations won’t vanish again.”
Is such an “imperial” statement a manifestation of Iran’s political cunning?
Again, how will the Iranian people benefit from such a statement? And how should Arabs interpret it?
The author is a columnist and researcher
