For the past few years, Iran has been suffering from a deteriorating image in the Arab and Islamic world, mainly due to its perceived role in the sectarian conflict that is shattering the region.
Iran, as well as Arab countries, are draining their funds and human capital in this conflict and nurturing an unnecessary animosity instead of building a fruitful relationship based on common geography, history and interests.
This conflict has led to a shift in the Arab and Islamic world’s opinion of Iran. A 2015 Pew Research Centre survey showed that 89 per cent of those polled in Jordan viewed Iran negatively. In Indonesia the approval rating for Iran went from 77 per cent in 2006-2007 to 36 per cent in 2015. In Malaysia it dropped from 56 per cent to 34 per cent and in Turkey it went from 53 per cent to 17 per cent.
Prior to the outbreak of the Syrian war, Iran had a positive image in the Arab and Islamic world. Since the inception of the Iranian revolution, Ruhollah Khomeini tried to position Iran as the nation fighting injustice against Muslims and had adopted the liberation of Palestine and the fight against Israel and the US, its protector, as its prime cause. The focus on the secular national issue of Palestine, which is of high importance to the Arab and Islamic world, gave Iran popularity. In April 2006, an article in the Financial Times noted a “popular warming” in the Arab world for Iran’s right to enrich uranium, as it was perceived as a deterrent to Israel.
During the rule of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, from 2005-2013, who was very vocal in defending Palestinians’ rights, Iran’s approval rating reached its peak, especially following the confrontation between Hezbollah and Israel in the summer of 2006. That year, a poll by the Washington-based Zogby Research Services found a 75 per cent favourability rating for Iran in Arab and Muslim countries.
However, the image of the freedom and justice fighter that Iran tried to foment in the Arab world quickly unravelled when it took part in the sectarian conflict. Iran was no longer perceived as the Muslim brotherly nation trying to offer a helping hand, but as a Shiite state trying to impose its hegemony over the Sunni world.
Despite that, the regime denies such claims and Ali Khamenei, the current Supreme Leader of Iran, dismisses this image as an American creation aimed at igniting dissent in the Muslim world. But the steep drop in approval ratings does not show he has a convincing narrative.
Even though Iran is trying to establish relations with Arab countries, it will be difficult for the Islamic republic to break the current Arab isolation. Javad Zarif, Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, visited Tunisia and Algeria last summer in order to garner some support.
However, such efforts are unlikely to have any substantial results due to two main reasons: Arab states will not antagonise Saudi Arabia in order to establish a relationship with Iran. Moreover, Iran is unpopular in those countries. In Tunisia, for example, the nascent democracy, it will be difficult for Zarif’s diplomacy to transcend the 70 per cent disapproval rating from Tunisians.
Iran is realising the public relations crisis it is facing. To counter such a negative image, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting has recently commissioned a movie “Songs from My Homeland” featuring a romance brutalised by war where Iran is portrayed as the magnanimous defender of Sunnis, Shiites and Christians alike, against terrorism and extremism. The dialogue is completely in Arabic and the movie features Lebanese, Egyptian and Syrian actors.
However, fiction on the silver screen is unlikely to convince the Arab and Muslim masses of Iran’s benevolence when the news transmits true stories of children dying from starvation in the Syrian town of Madaya because of a siege imposed by Iran’s allies. Additionally, the show of power, as well as the condescending tone when addressing Arab states, only nurtures this animosity while offering Iran no real political gain.
The statement of Khamenei that four capitals were under the control of the revolution were badly received by the Arab masses. So was the declaration by Rouhani’s adviser in ethnic and religious minority affairs that Iran had created an empire, and that “Baghdad has become part of this empire.”
The tension has even affected Iran’s relationships with its long-term Palestinian allies. Newsweek reported that Iran had ceased funding for Hamas in Gaza.
Today, Iran is heading towards increasing alienation from the Arab and Islamic world. Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Bahrain have broken diplomatic ties with Tehran. The relationship remain cold and restrained with other countries. Iran was exempted from the Muslim anti-terrorism coalition that includes 34 countries. This seclusion is not to the benefit of a country that is about to make an entry into the world global economy. The last thing Iran wants to see is a replacement of the Western embargo with an Arab-Islamic one.
Dr Dania Koleilat Khatib is a specialist in US-Arab Gulf relations and in the effect of lobbying on foreign policy in the US. She is the author of “The Arab lobby and the US: Factor for Success and Failure” by Routledge.
