The West Refuses To Heed Arab Warnings

Okaz, Saudi Arabia, November 10

Since the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, most of the Arab countries, led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, have taken a clear position of neutrality. This is positive neutrality that paves the way for communication and negotiations with all actors in the global arena. The goal of taking such a stance was to bring an end to this bloody conflict, reach a peaceful settlement, and mitigate, as much as possible, the war’s negative effects on the global economy. Consequently, Prince Mohammed bin Salman succeeded in playing a key role in releasing prisoners of war, including Americans, from Russian captivity. In recent developments, Ukrainian and Western officials accused Russia of using Iranian weapons on the battlefield. Chief among these are the Shahed 136 exploding drones, which have been used to target Ukrainian critical infrastructure such as electricity production plants and fuel tanks. Moscow refused to comment on this allegation. However, Russia clearly will use whatever means are available at its disposal, including Iranian-produced weapons, against Ukraine. This is especially true considering the extensive military support for Ukraine from Western countries. As for Iran, the mullahs initially denied these Ukrainian accusations. However, after realizing that their lies were no longer convincing anyone, the Iranian Foreign Ministry admitted that Tehran supplied Moscow with these drones before the war. This means that Iran is indirectly involved in this conflict. Regardless of the details of the Russian war in Ukraine, and regardless of our position on it, what the Arab countries warned of has been fulfilled when the terrorist Houthi militia used these same drones to attack civilian targets in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Gulf countries warned time and again that Iran was sending ballistic missiles and advanced weapon systems to various terrorist groups – not merely to threaten Gulf targets, but to undermine international security. Multiple pleas were made for the West to act. But the West remained deaf to these warnings, as usual, and considered the events happening in the Middle East as ones unfolding in isolation from other world events. Ignoring Iran’s military activity in the Gulf inevitably led to that same military activity reaching Europe’s backyard. If only those in power had listened. –Rami Caliph Al-Ali (translated by Asaf Zilberfarb)