Syria is a natural extension of the Arabian Peninsula, so if Syria ever comes under the influence of Iran, a “grand clash” between Saudi Arabia and Iran-controlled Syria should be expected, argued Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi in the London-based newspaper Al Hayat.
During the GCC Summit in Kuwait last week, the Gulf states welcomed “the new orientation by the Iranian leadership towards the Gulf Cooperation Council”. This new orientation, however, is nothing but lip service paid to the GCC states by President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif. The reality is that they are using the old colonial “divide and conquer” tactic, according to the writer.
The Saudi delegation was certainly not happy drafting this part of the final statement. Saudi Arabia is aware that it will be the primary force in the looming face-off with Iran in Syria.
Qatar will be the only state to take part alongside Saudi Arabia, a curious irony that reflects the realpolitik that will prevail among the GCC States.
Saudi Arabia was most probably the party that insisted on adding to the sentence above that the GCC States hope that the new orientation “will be followed by concrete measures that would positively impact regional peace.”
“Syria is the front line of the Islamic Republic,” Ali Jafari, head of the Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, said two days after the GCC states’ statement. He also said that they will do whatever they can to protect the Syrian regime in Syria. That is Iran’s realpolitik, he noted.
Mr Zarif will not be as clear. He would rather smile and say something to do with wanting what is best for the Syrian people, who have the right to choose its regime without any interference, and that all parties have to go to Geneva to reach a peaceful settlement. He would not acknowledge the advanced weaponry Iran supplies to the Syrian regime to slay its own people.
Instead, he would say that they are fighting the hardliners in Syria and it is in the best interests of the countries of the region to collaborate with Iran.
As long as this kind of logic persists, the Saudis must not sit down for negotiations with Iran. It can do that only after tipping the balance in its favour in Syria, the writer noted.
Yet this is not an easy task for Saudi Arabia. One day after Mr Jafari’s statement, the US and the UK announced suspension of assistance to the Syrian rebels, assistance that was only non-lethal in the first place.
The suspension came after extremist militants seized depots of aid belonging to the Free Syrian Army.
This might arouse Saudi’s doubt about the true intentions of the Americans towards the Syrian crisis, and therefore lead them to brace themselves for a grand faceoff with Iran on Syrian territory, he said.
Is there any hope for peace in Middle East?
A Palestinian-Israeli agreement in the current negotiations requires enormous efforts on the part of Israel in terms of security arrangements. But the reality is nobody seems to be making any such efforts in Israel, which seems to be in the talks only to impose its will, noted the columnist Mazen Hammad in the Qatari daily Al Watan.
US Secretary of State John Kerry’s meeting with president Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah lasted less than half an hour. Is it no secret that Kerry, in his role as a mediator, has made his tenth visit to the region purely to persuade president Abbas to accept the US’s proposals. These include maintaining a temporary Israeli presence on some Palestinian territories, which Abbas categorically rejected. The Palestinians also refused any delay in releasing the third batch of Palestinian prisoners at the end of this month. Most importantly, president Abbas reportedly sent Mr Kerry a letter in which he firmly rejected acknowledging Israel as a Jewish state.
“Despite Mr Kerry’s utter failure and despite the obstacles Israel is putting in his way, the US diplomat has yet to despair. He has plans to call for a summit conference that joins president Abbas and the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a bid to revive the stalled negotiations and in an attempt to motivate both sides to accept a new formula that paves the way for a serious agreement,” the writer said.
Who is the real enemy of Syria extremists?
In recent months, Daesh and Al Nusra extremist fighters, supposedly fighting alongside the rebel forces in Syria against the Assad regime, have been involved in several altercations with Free Syrian Army battalions and killed many revolutionary figures. They have fuelled the regime’s anti-revolutionary propaganda by kidnapping nuns from the historic Christian town of Maaloula and they have kidnapped 12 journalists and media activists, including professionals who have given two years of their lives to serve the revolution’s cause.
As Saudi columnist Abdelrahman Al Rashed noted in the pan-Arab daily Asharq Al Awsat: “It is hard for anyone to believe that these groups seek to topple the Assad regime or go to heaven. It seems certain that they are run by the Syrian regime and its Iranian allies just as the regime had previously controlled the Fateh Al Islam extremist group in Lebanon in previous years.”
“Jabhat Al Nusra and Daesh came to the surface at the Assad forces’ weakest hour. They took to the battlefield around the same time Hizbollah, Iraqi and Iranian forces joined the fight alongside Al Assad. But Daesh and Al Nusra made a double victory: they attacked the Free Syrian Army and they tarnished the revolution’s reputation and terrorised the Syrians.”
* Digest compiled by The Translation Desk
translation@thenational.ae
