CITIZENS of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries want the Gulf to be a peaceful haven, a goal their governments have long strived to achieve. Therefore, the Gulf states’ condemnation of the Israeli attack on Iran were sincere, despite Iran’s repeated efforts to stir unrest in the region over the past 48 years.
The list of reasons for holding Iran accountable is long, starting with the Iran-Iraq War and the terrorist operations carried out during those eight years by militias formed and backed by Tehran. This is followed by Iran’s support for the Houthis, including supplying missiles used to target Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states. Furthermore, since 1982, Tehran has worked to establish terrorist groups in Lebanon. After the fall of the Baath regime, Iran gained control over Iraq through extremist sectarian militias that continue to destabilize the country.
Since 1979, the current Iranian regime has sought to weaken Syria’s resilience. In 2011, Iran succeeded in replacing the Arab blood that flows through Syria, the beating heart of Arabism, with a sectarian divide that opposes and undermines Arab unity. During this time, Iran’s actions led to the deaths and injuries of approximately one and a half million Syrians and the displacement of more than eight million people. The Arab peoples will never forget the devastation caused by these sectarian militias throughout the Arab world, nor their efforts to corrupt the minds of youth through the promotion of drugs and other destructive behaviors. We do not slander the Iranian mullahs’ regime, which has repeatedly violated the teachings of God Almighty by refusing to achieve peace and tranquility among Muslims and throughout the world.
For the past five decades, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have sought to spare the Iranian people from hardship, even as their leaders persistently ignore reason and logic. The governments and leaders of the GCC countries are well aware that external forces are waiting for the right moment to exploit the region’s resources. They also recognize that Iran, which is a great country, could play a vital economic, political, and developmental role in the region if it abandons hostile actions and provocations influenced by the West. Unfortunately, Iran has consistently chosen to fuel crises instead.
Successive U.S. administrations since 1979 have not forgotten the 444-day hostage crisis at the U.S. embassy in Tehran, where American hostages lived in terror, along with threats to vital U.S. interests in the Middle East. Consequently, the U.S. has viewed the Iranian regime as a destabilizing force for international security, especially as it revived its nuclear program.
Moreover, the Iranian regime has continued to threaten global stability by threatening to block important maritime routes, through which 20 percent of global trade passes daily via the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al-Mandab Strait. This highlights the scale of the potential global crisis if Iran were to block these straits.
Such actions are rightly unacceptable to the world, especially after the months of disruption caused by Houthi attacks on commercial and military vessels. The administration of former U.S. President Barack Obama appeared uncertain, resulting in an agreement with Tehran that later proved to be little more than ink on paper. Under former President Joe Biden, Washington sought to ease tensions, inadvertently granting Tehran greater freedom of action. In response, Iran openly revealed the true extent of its nuclear program and missile projects. It accelerated uranium enrichment to high levels, signaling an intention to develop a nuclear bomb.
On the missile front, Iran possesses long-range missiles capable of reaching all Arab capitals, as well as threatening targets in Europe and Southeast Asia. It is only natural that the world would reject a regime that sponsors terrorism to possesses weapons of mass destruction, which could enable it to spread terror across the globe. Accordingly, Washington and Western capitals have sought to apply the language of reason.
Meanwhile, the Iranian Foreign Minister’s meetings in Geneva and Tehran’s representative’s speech at the UN Security Council were marked by arrogance and bravado. This does not absolve Israel of responsibility. As I noted in a previous article, Israel is the mother of all evils. Nonetheless, most countries support and back their actions against the Iranian nuclear program. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz rightly stated, “Israel is currently doing the dirty work on behalf of the West.” In reality, Israel is carrying out this role for the entire world. In contrast, Iran is today living in an era of suspicion, as it suspects everyone, including its own citizens, when what it truly needs is someone to trust it.
