Are regional Gulf countries seeking to forge there own separate peace deals with Iran, apart from the United States?That's what fresh Thursday reporting in the Financial Times suggests.
The report says Saudi Arabia is supposedlyconsidering a non-aggression pact between the Middle East states and Iranafter the military conflict between the United States and Iran ends, theFTindicates.
Citing diplomatic sources, it describes that Riyadh is assessinga model of the Helsinki Process, which helped reduce tensions in Europe during the Cold War, and created an uneasy East-West peace in post-WW2 Europe.
The driving rationale behind the potential diplomatic framework is that while Iran is"weakened,"the reality is that it still"poses a threat to its neighbors."
An Arab diplomat cited by FT said that a non-aggression pact modelled along the lines of the Helsinki process is something likely to be embraced by most Arab and Muslim states, as well as by Iranian leader.
"It all depends on who is in it - in the current climate, you are not going to be able to get Iran and Israel...Without Israel, it could be counterproductive because after Iran, they are seen as the biggest source of conflict. But Iran is not going anywhere, and this is why the Saudis are pushing it," the sourcestated.
The Abraham Accords have theoretically attempted to build a normalization and non-aggression foundation involving Arab states and Israel, but other countries and populations in the region are suspicious of it for the very fact thatit is seen fundamentally as a pro-US and pro-Israeli axis of alignment.
As for for Tehran and Riyadh, they recently have experience with direct, good faith talks, given that it was onlyin 2023 that China made history when it brokered a landmark normalization deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia- after which mutual embassies opened and went into operation.
This week,Reutersand other sources revealed for the first time that at the height of Trump's Operation Epic Fury which began in late February and endured through March into early April, theUAE directly fired back on Iran as it was under attackby drones and missiles. Also interesting is the fresh revelation that Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahumade a secret visit to the UAEas the Iran war was in full swing - though UAE has officially denied it, perhaps not wanting to inflame Arab public sentiment.
Kuwait also reportedly directly attacked Iranian interests, and additionally the Saudis attacked Shia Iraqi militias seen as cooperating with Iran.
Source: ZeroHedge News
