Certain Arab states support instability in Mideast through proxy wars: Analyst
Press TV has conducted an interview with Kevork Almassian, a
political commentator in Beirut, to get his views about the final
communiqué on Iran by the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
Following is a rough transcription of the interview.
Press TV: Why do you think that the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council has made this type of statement in their final communiqué?
Almassian: This escalation after the agreement of the nuclear deal between Iran and P5+1 is not surprising for me. We are speaking about politics here. These countries know that they are now isolated, namely the [Persian] Gulf countries. The United States and other Western countries agreed with Iran on certain issues, namely the nuclear issue and also the other files. We are speaking now about a comprehensive deal that deals with many issues regarding the Middle East. And Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other countries who have also ambitions in Syria, in Iraq, in Yemen and in other files are angry at the United Sates because they would consider themselves as an ally to the United States, but it seems to everybody that the United states is dealing with these countries as an equation of a master with a slave.
These countries now feel that they did not share the cake in the Middle East, so they are raising their rhetoric against Iran to distort first the image of Iran by telling that Iran is intervening in the internal affairs of [Persian] Gulf countries and in other countries, but the reality is that Iran is dealing with other countries in the Middle East on peer-to-peer basis by improving the relations with Syria, with Iraq, with Lebanon and also Iran is giving hand to the [Persian] Gulf countries, telling them let’s make a dialogue in order to solve these issues. But it seems that the [Persian] Gulf countries are not ready for any kind of dialogue and this is obvious by creating proxies in Syria, in Iraq, in Lebanon in order to destabilize these countries and to hurt or to damage the interest of Iran in the region. We are speaking about politics; all countries have the right to extend their influence as long as it is based on constructive basis, then this is what Iran is doing. On the other hand, the [Persian] Gulf countries created ISIS, created al-Nusra Front, created Jihadi radical groups in the Middle East. So who is destabilizing the area? The answer is very obvious to any rational and realistic analyst.
But these countries now have no other option but to face Iran in order to prevent it to extend its influence to other areas like Yemen, Lebanon and Syria.
Press TV: You brought up some interesting points. On one hand, these Persian Gulf Arab states are talking about Iran actually getting involved and adding to the instability in the region, but on the other hand we see that they are very much actually involved in this instability. How much of responsibility do you think these Persian Gulf Arab nations bear to the lack of stability in much of the region?
Almassian: If we analyze the incidents of the last five years in the North Africa and in the Middle East, the MENA region, we will see that, namely Qatar and Saudi Arabia, were involved in most of the coups d’état and destabilizing processes in the area, namely in Egypt, Syria, and Yemen. These countries were involved through their proxies, but who are their proxies? This is a very important question.
Saudi Arabia did not deal with nationalistic, leftist or rightist groups, no. They dealt with and created very radical groups in order to break the status quo in these countries and to reinstall a kind of regime loyal to Saudi Arabia through this means. We are speaking about destructive means now, not a constructive means. On the other hand, Iran, for example, dealt with the Syrian government, with the legitimate Syrian government, with the legitimate Iraqi government and Iranians did not create terrorist organizations in these countries. They dealt with the Syrian government as a peer, as an ally, as a friend. They improved their relations on all levels: on the economic, political, and military levels.
Do you think Iran is not able to make troubles in [Persian] Gulf states? They have the capabilities, but they are not willing to do it. Iranians want to make peace with the [Persian] Gulf countries because this conflict serves only the American interest in the area.
Source: http://www.presstv.in/Detail/2015/09/17/429597/Gulf-Cooperation-Council-Arab-states-proxy-wars
Following is a rough transcription of the interview.
Press TV: Why do you think that the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council has made this type of statement in their final communiqué?
Almassian: This escalation after the agreement of the nuclear deal between Iran and P5+1 is not surprising for me. We are speaking about politics here. These countries know that they are now isolated, namely the [Persian] Gulf countries. The United States and other Western countries agreed with Iran on certain issues, namely the nuclear issue and also the other files. We are speaking now about a comprehensive deal that deals with many issues regarding the Middle East. And Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other countries who have also ambitions in Syria, in Iraq, in Yemen and in other files are angry at the United Sates because they would consider themselves as an ally to the United States, but it seems to everybody that the United states is dealing with these countries as an equation of a master with a slave.
These countries now feel that they did not share the cake in the Middle East, so they are raising their rhetoric against Iran to distort first the image of Iran by telling that Iran is intervening in the internal affairs of [Persian] Gulf countries and in other countries, but the reality is that Iran is dealing with other countries in the Middle East on peer-to-peer basis by improving the relations with Syria, with Iraq, with Lebanon and also Iran is giving hand to the [Persian] Gulf countries, telling them let’s make a dialogue in order to solve these issues. But it seems that the [Persian] Gulf countries are not ready for any kind of dialogue and this is obvious by creating proxies in Syria, in Iraq, in Lebanon in order to destabilize these countries and to hurt or to damage the interest of Iran in the region. We are speaking about politics; all countries have the right to extend their influence as long as it is based on constructive basis, then this is what Iran is doing. On the other hand, the [Persian] Gulf countries created ISIS, created al-Nusra Front, created Jihadi radical groups in the Middle East. So who is destabilizing the area? The answer is very obvious to any rational and realistic analyst.
But these countries now have no other option but to face Iran in order to prevent it to extend its influence to other areas like Yemen, Lebanon and Syria.
Press TV: You brought up some interesting points. On one hand, these Persian Gulf Arab states are talking about Iran actually getting involved and adding to the instability in the region, but on the other hand we see that they are very much actually involved in this instability. How much of responsibility do you think these Persian Gulf Arab nations bear to the lack of stability in much of the region?
Almassian: If we analyze the incidents of the last five years in the North Africa and in the Middle East, the MENA region, we will see that, namely Qatar and Saudi Arabia, were involved in most of the coups d’état and destabilizing processes in the area, namely in Egypt, Syria, and Yemen. These countries were involved through their proxies, but who are their proxies? This is a very important question.
Saudi Arabia did not deal with nationalistic, leftist or rightist groups, no. They dealt with and created very radical groups in order to break the status quo in these countries and to reinstall a kind of regime loyal to Saudi Arabia through this means. We are speaking about destructive means now, not a constructive means. On the other hand, Iran, for example, dealt with the Syrian government, with the legitimate Syrian government, with the legitimate Iraqi government and Iranians did not create terrorist organizations in these countries. They dealt with the Syrian government as a peer, as an ally, as a friend. They improved their relations on all levels: on the economic, political, and military levels.
Do you think Iran is not able to make troubles in [Persian] Gulf states? They have the capabilities, but they are not willing to do it. Iranians want to make peace with the [Persian] Gulf countries because this conflict serves only the American interest in the area.
Source: http://www.presstv.in/Detail/2015/09/17/429597/Gulf-Cooperation-Council-Arab-states-proxy-wars
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