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Will Saudi Arabia revive new Pan-Arabism?

Commentary Materials 7 November 2017 20:48 (UTC +04:00)
Arab countries lost their strong leaders as a result of the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in Iraq and the so-called Arab Spring.
Will Saudi Arabia revive new Pan-Arabism?

Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 7

By Rufiz Hafizoglu – Trend:

Arab countries lost their strong leaders as a result of the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in Iraq and the so-called Arab Spring. As there are no leaders in the Arab world, such countries as Turkey and Iran began to actively promote their interests in the region.

Saudi Arabia thinks that during Barack Obama’s presidency, Washington has changed its best ally to Iran.

Irrespective of Obama's policy in the region, Saudi Arabia has never concealed its ambitions for leadership in the Middle East.

Taking into account Iran’s current ambitions, today the tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran is growing every day.

Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir said that the chaos and instability occur in the region due to Iran.

Saudi Arabian Minister of Gulf Affairs Thamer al-Sabhan also said that Riyadh will see Lebanon as a country that declared war on it.

"Lebanon must know and understand the danger of Hezbollah," al-Sabhan said. “Hezbollah's militants are involved in all the terrorist attacks that threatened Saudi Arabia, drug trafficking.”

Special attention should be also paid to the statement made by Lebanese Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who resigned during his recent visit to Saudi Arabia.

As the main reason of his resignation, Hariri named interference by Iran and its accomplices, represented by Hezbollah, in Lebanon’s internal affairs which he could not resist.

Hariri has already left Riyadh and paid a visit to the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi.

Saudi Arabia and Iran have been unofficially fighting in Yemen for three years.

It is clear that Lebanon will become the new bridgehead of confrontation between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia’s media outlets have already written that when taking part in the war in Syria, Hezbollah has lost its military power. However, Iran, actively fighting in Syria and Iraq and rendering military support to Hussites in Yemen, is simply unable to open another front in Lebanon in case of a popular uprising against Hezbollah.

But according to other opinion, Hezbollah gained combat experience due to its participation in the war in Syria.

Hezbollah is also a real threat to Israel. Amid the current events, one can say that a number of Arab countries see Iran as an enemy, rather than Israel.

Perhaps, during the confrontation with Iran, Saudi Arabia will have to look for new allies among all the Sunni countries.

At the same time, Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud’s secret visit to Israel in September gives grounds to think that Saudi Arabia and Israel have already agreed on an alliance against Iran.

According to Israeli media outlets, Mohammad bin Salman held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and high-ranking representatives of the Israeli Foreign Ministry. The sides discussed a joint regional peace initiative.

It is also worth noting that the rapprochement between Israel and Saudi Arabia occurred as a result of a joint confrontation with the Iranian nuclear threat. Netanyahu has recently said that relations between Israel and some Arab countries have become close.

The development of events in the region is still unknown. Sooner or later, Saudi Arabia will have to create an ideological doctrine that will not be based on a religious principle. It will be directed against Iran's "sectarian" policy.

The military clashes in Syria, Iraq and Yemen, which were presented by Saudi Arabia as Shiite-Sunni, did not bring it the expected results. As a result, while using all opportunities, Saudi Arabia will try to revive Arab nationalism, aimed at uniting all Arabs, including Arab Shiites against Iran's policy.

"Moderate Islam" project is planned to be the basis of the new Arab nationalism.

If one recalls the recent history, one can see that Pan-Arabism and Arab nationalism are not new for the Arab countries.

For example, the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party was founded in Syria in 1947. It was hostile to political Islam, as well as to Israel.

No matter how Saudi Arabia tried to revive Arab nationalism, there are a number of obstacles, one of which is Russia. Without taking into account Russia's interests in the region, Saudi Arabia will fail to promote the ideas of new Arab nationalism.

Another obstacle to the revival of Pan-Arabism is the Muslim Brotherhood organization, which is considered an ideological enemy of Saudi Arabia and a friend of Iran, despite a number of disagreements with Iran.

As for Turkey, which is making only moderate statements regarding Iran and Saudi Arabia, Ankara will not join the anti-Iran bloc.

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Rufiz Hafizoglu is the head of Trend Agency's Arabic news service, follow him on Twitter: @rhafizoglu

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