The Brief, No 45
15 December 2023
Siapa For a very long time Saudi Arabia and Israel have agreed on the destructive nature of Iran in regional politics.
In an interview conducted by Afrasid, an Iranian official asserted that “Israel despises Iran and if given a chance it would like to nuke us” . Israel despises Iran for a number of reasons. Firstly, Iran supports Hezbollah in Lebanon, a sworn enemy of Israel. Secondly, Iran has also been open about its support of Hamas and Islamic Jehad in Palestine. Israel has also accused Iran of wanting "to eradicate it and wipe it off the face of the map”, a statement attributed to the former president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Similarly, Saudi Arabia has had sour relations with Iran for other reasons. Iran, a Shia state, is being accused of Shia expansionism in Saudi Arabia and other Sunni countries around the world. Shia Islam is regarded by Saudi Arabia, a "custodian of Sunni Islam", as an adulterated interpretation of Islam. Saudi Arabia also views Shia expansionism a threat inside its own kingdom. Tensions between the government of Saudi Arabia and its Shia population has led to persecutions and killing of hundreds. The execution of a leading Saudi Shia cleric, Nimr al Nimr in 2016 was one event that led to an all time low in relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Protestors in Tehran, Iran stormed and vandalised the Saudi embassy in Tehran on hearing the news. Saudi Arabia retaliated by closing the Iranian embassy in Riyadh and suspended diplomatic relations with Iran.
Saudi led coalition in Yemen against Iran backed Houthis, further complicated relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Moreover, the continual support of Hezbollah in Lebanon and support of Hamas and Islamic Jehad in Palestine are other factors which have further complicated relations between the two countries.
Rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia has been significant. Israel has built its relationship with Saudi Arabia on its common criticism of Iran. Rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia will once again isolate Israel politically in the region. Although the normalisation processes between the Arab countries and Israel will continue under the patronage of United Arab Emirates (UAE). It now seems very unlikely that Saudi Arabia, which was poised to normalise relations with Israel before 07 October 2023, will continue.
Whereas the normalisation process was meant to, amongst others, isolate Iran in the region; rapprochement between the two countries is likely to bring Iran back into the fold in the region. It will also bring an element of unity between Shia and Sunni Islam, further uniting the region against Israel. Iran could also be invited to join the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Should that happen, Iran will get a chance to mobilise against Israel from within the GCC.
Afrasid is available for commentary and analysis.