It is good news that Iran and the international community represented by the P5+1 (US, Britain, France, Russia, China plus Germany) have reached an understanding for a political framework in which key areas of agreement over Iran’s controversial nuclear programme will be noted and outstanding issues will continue to be discussed until the June 30 deadline when a comprehensive deal is expected.
There are still important problems as Iran insists on its right to research enrichment technologies and there is a complicated debate on how the many different varieties of sanctions on Iran may be lifted — some of which are not related to the nuclear issue at all, but go back to Iran’s actions in 1979 when it held US embassy employees hostage, and other examples of Iran backing terrorist activity.
The Arab states in the Gulf have profound reservations about the deal as they feel that the reduction of sanctions and any normalisation of relations will let Iran out of its constraints while it is still continuing to manipulate events in many Arab states, including Iraq and Syria where it plays a dominant role in the on-going civil wars, Lebanon where it is a serious player through its proxy Hezbollah and in Yemen, where it has supported the Al Houthi takeover of much of the state, never mind its continued backing for the Shiites of Bahrain.
It is important that the nuclear deal is not seen as a grand bargain in which Iran agrees to stop its provocative actions. Therefore, the Arab world is right to be suspicious of Iranian intentions in the region. It may be hoped that the end of the nuclear dispute may encourage Iran to stop its manipulation, but that may well not happen. If Iran persists in seeking to foment sectarian conflict in the region, the Arab world need not change its relations with Iran in spite of a nuclear deal. It needs to insist that all countries in the region respect their neighbours’ sovereignty.
