During Obama’s presidency, Iran had been in a state of contentment of the same level of the cold relations between Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States of America. This was evident through the points of disagreement between Saudi Arabia and the United States on the Syrian crisis and US noticeable drawback in the Middle East affairs.
Obama’s administration granted Iran several concessions and adopted an unprecedented flexible policy toward the Iranian regime in order to make a historical record for this administration. Consequently, it spearheaded an intense push to sign the nuclear deal with Iran despite the sharp criticism to the nature of the accord and to Obama’s soft response toward the Iranian violations of this deal.
The Iranian regime had been at its best until the end of Obama’s presidency. The winning of Donald Trump president of the United States over the Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton that was expected to continue Obama’s approach has demolished the Iranian expectations. The state of satisfaction has turned into frustration and disappointment, which made Tehran direct its proxies in the United States to engage in media campaigns against president Trump in line with the Iranian interests. After Trump’s new laws that banned citizens of seven countries to enter the United States including Iran, Tehran and its supporters have increased their attacks against the new US President and amplified the Iranian anger not only because of the ban, but also because the laws would resume the Iranian hostile image in the United States and take it back to ground zero before the deal. Furthermore, the new laws have provoked the national pride of the Iranian press because of listing Iran amongst the six unstable and insecure Arab countries; Somalia, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Libya and Sudan. The Iranian press inflamed by Trump’s new laws launched a campaign objecting Iran’s name on the list and the absence of other countries’ names like Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
In light of disparity between the policies of both Obama and Trump’s administrations, the Iranian regime expected persistence of the cold relations between the United States and Saudi Arabia; however, the current preliminary indicators confirm that the two countries enjoy strong and strategic relations. They are expected to enhance cooperation and boost ties during Trump’s presidency, which was evident in the phone call that lasted for more than an hour between King Salman bin Abdul Aziz and President Donald Trump last Sunday evening. Both leaders shared the determination to enhance cooperation between the two countries on all levels, strengthen bilateral relations, counterterrorism, and restrain the Iranian activities that destabilize and threaten the security of the Middle East region.
Consequently, the Iranian lobby in Washington has entered a hysterical state that was evident on the social media accounts on the internet and their desperate attempts to play the humanitarian and moral chords. Furthermore, they did their utmost to attract the American society’s sympathy though amplifying certain cases of Iranians exempted from the other six countries’ citizens. Moreover, some sources said that the leader of the Iranian lobby in Washington demanded $300 thousand from the Iranian administration to boost their media campaign against the new US laws concerning the ban of the Iranians from traveling to the United States.
The United States administration stated that the ban could be reviewed after three months; however, the message has been conveyed to the Iranian regime, which was evident through the Security Council’s urgent session last Tuesday at US request on Iran’s ballistic missile test. In fact, Tehran’s regime has finally recognized Washington’s new trends against the Iranian futility around the world.
Indeed, Iran has clearly understood that the honeymoon with Washington might be coming to an end. The United States leniency toward Tehran’s regional practices and constant support of sectarianism and terrorism might be over, which could be behind Iran’s attempts of restoring political relations with its Arab neighboring countries and the call for dialogue with the GCC countries.
Nevertheless, we believe that the Iranian change of its diplomatic language is insignificant for the GCC countries and the region to change their positions toward Iran and its hostile policy over a long period of time. In fact, the Iranian talks are useless if no real actions are taken by the Iranian regime. It has to change its hostility and sectarian trend hijacking the whole region and reshape its relations based on peace, mutual respect, and non-intervention in other’s affairs. As we can see, Iran is experiencing a state of severe confusion and wallow that should be invested for the good of the region and the Iranian people as well. Furthermore, the US administration has to continue its zero-tolerance policy against the Iranian practices outside its borders and kiss Obama administration’s policies in the region goodbye, which has burdened the region and the world as well with big losses and disastrous consequences. Finally, all people from different ethnicities and backgrounds in Iran deserve peaceful lives and better living conditions. The Iranian Mullahs Regime has to pay more attention to its people as much as its support to the sectarian militias and terrorist groups around the world, which is currently the least inclination it can do for this people.
Translated Material: Watan Daily
Opinions in this article reflect the writer’s point of view, not necessarily the view of The Arabain GCIS
