The symbolism could not have been clearer. By choosing to boycott the closing session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation meeting in Istanbul, Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani was sending a clear message that he is little interested in what his 56 fellow Muslim delegation heads from across four continents think.
That is a shame, because the final statement from the summit could not have been clearer. It was unambiguous in criticising Iran’s interference in Yemen, Syria and elsewhere. By choosing not to listen to it, Mr Rouhani has done what his government has been doing for many years now: deliberately ignoring the advice, counsel and protestations of the international community.
The OIC is only the latest group of countries to have made their displeasure heard. The GCC, the Arab League and many individual countries have all noted Iran’s interference and warned it is destabilising an already-fragile region. Iran’s interference in Yemen, in Syria, in Iraq and Lebanon has brought nothing but negative consequences – and has seriously affected the lives of people in those countries. Indeed, it has cost many lives. Mr Rouhani has a responsibility for that, but he refuses even to acknowledge it.
Yet the stakes are incredibly high. Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who hosted the summit, spoke on Friday of the “wars, armed conflict, sectarianism and terrorism” that plague areas of the Middle East. Having seen the chaos that ISIL has caused in Syria and Iraq, and how destabilising the knock-on impact has been in Turkey, he understands the need for unity.
That is precisely why Iran needs to rein in its worse elements – its sectarian support in Iraq and backing for the Assad regime has allowed ISIL to flourish, and now threatens the whole region. Mr Rouhani may think he is merely playing politics, balancing one power against another, but in fact he is inflaming a situation that may soon have consequences for his own country.
The need for unity, then, remains high, and it was useful to see Mr Erdogan point out that “we have a single religion, Islam. Being Sunni or Shia is not our religion”. Such divisiveness is a certain route to more chaos and less prosperity. That Mr Erdogan, and 55 other leaders, could grasp that point, while Mr Rouhani remains silent, suggests either that Iran is not listening – or intends to recklessly plough ahead regardless.
