While Supporting Palestine, Arab Countries Reluctant To Back Iran (image @khamenei_ir)
The timing of an emergency meeting of Gulf foreign ministers in Doha, and the visit of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian for talks with Qatar emir was one. This question raises questions about how the gulf states will react if Israel further attacks Iran, not only to weaken the country, but “reorder” the entire region.
The coalition of these six Sunni Gulf monarchs is not naturally well disposed to Iran and its Shia proxies. In 2016, the gulf countries labelled Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation.
While the gulf countries oppose further Israeli escalation, they believe that only Washington has means to restrain the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said The Guardian. The gulf state also insist that the establishment of an independent Palestinian state is the only path to regional stability.
However, while calling for a Palestinian statehood, the Arab countries maintained its silence on mentioning Iran, Israel, or if US is going to intervene in Israel’s killing spree.
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It has been crystal clear from the beginning of Israel’s current war in Gaza that, the Arab nations are unlikely to change their own collective year-long strategy of not providing Palestinians anything other than humanitarian aid and political support, despite popular support in their countries for the Palestinian cause.
The GCC countries, chaired by Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, argues that only a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas be the solution for all. However, the assassination of Hamas political chief, and Doha’s key interlocutor, Ismail Haniyeh, served as a severe blow in achieving the ceasefire.
Meanwhile, the gulf countries, including Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and UAE have urged Israel to respect Lebanon’s sovereignty and accept a ceasefire, none uttered a word about Iran’s attack on Israel.
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Iran attacked Israel as a retaliation of the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukur in Beirut, and Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in its latest attack on Beirut.
Reportedly, the Arab nations might want Iran to take the back seat. Weakening of Iranian influence might represent an opportunity for regional states to exploit Iran’s weakness and push back Iranian-backed non-state actors.
It has been perceived that a weakened Iran could give greater space for Iraq’s president, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, to have hold Iranian-backed factions. Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, conspicuously silent about the conflict despite the support Hezbollah has shown him, might also recover influence in Lebanon.
