Iran’s terrorist aggression against Kuwait, Bahrain, and other Gulf states confirms once again that Tehran has no intention of abandoning its expansionist agenda. If international sanctions are deemed necessary, then the recent step taken by the United States regarding the Arab Gulf states means moving forward in limiting Iran’s ability to attack neighboring countries.
The US Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent, said, “Work has begun to assess the situation in the Gulf states and to request estimates of the cost of repairing the damage inflicted by Iran since the beginning of the war, in order to use Iranian assets to rebuild what was destroyed by the Iranian attacks on those countries.
This should go hand in hand with assessing the damage caused by Iran in other Arab countries, particularly Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, and Syria.” It is true that the Iranian regime has poisoned the political and sectarian environment in those countries, and that some segments of their populations have responded to its sectarian rhetoric. The real reason is the repression, incentives, and intimidation practices of the Iranian regime to fuel sectarian divisions within Arab societies and increased militarization in support of social groups that had not experienced such deep divisions prior to 1979.
These countries, particularly Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen, are experiencing internal divisions that require urgent attention and resolution. While Syria has rid itself of this sectarian virus, thanks to its popular revolution against Bashar al- Assad’s regime, Iraq today, under the leadership of the new Prime Minister Ali Abdullah Saleh, is on the right track for eradicating this scourge. Although resolving these issues will take time, there are early indications of progress, as some Iranian-backed factions have begun handing over weapons to the Baghdad government. Since 2003, Tehran has controlled Iraqi decision-making and caused numerous massacres and much harm to the Iraqi people. Therefore, Iran must pay the price for this intervention and the losses it has inflicted. The Iraqi government must begin assessing the damage and demanding compensation from Iran. Syria must also demand compensation for the damages caused by Iranian intervention, which, according to some international reports, amount to roughly $40 billion.
The situation in Yemen is different because even today it continues to pose a significant threat to the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Gulf states as long as the Houthis remain in power in Sana’a. Therefore, any change in Iran must be followed by an end to the abnormal situation in Sana’a. This does not mean that the Yemeni government in Aden is demanding compensation for the damages caused by Iranian intervention. This is a right of the Yemeni people, a large percentage of whom have been driven below the poverty line and are suffering from hunger due to Iran. Regarding Lebanon, President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam addressed the matter in their interview on CNN.
They called for Iran to cease interfering in Lebanese affairs and held it responsible for the recent war, which caused direct losses of approximately $29 billion. According to these estimates, Iran owes the Gulf states and the four Arab countries over $120 billion. Therefore, the US administration’s smart move to utilize frozen Iranian assets for reconstruction is a step in the right direction. However, it would require a binding international resolution.
This UN resolution should be under Chapter VII of the UN Charter to allocate a portion of Iranian revenues towards compensation payments in the future, similar to what was done in the case of Saddam Hussein’s regime. The region, which has suffered under the terrorist regime of the mullahs, deserves to regain growth and stability, free from the headache of terrorism, the concept of “exporting revolutions,” and other factors that have led Gulf states to spend significant time and money in confronting Iranian terrorism.
