FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
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Saudi-Iranian feud widens Islamic schism

Saudi-Iranian feud widens Islamic schism

OIC SUMMIT ONLY SERVES TO PIT SUNNIS AGAINST SHI’ITES INSTEAD OF RESOLVING PROBLEMS THE MUSLIM WORLD FACES

In the end, it’s a case of Sunni Muslim countries ganging up against Shi’ite Iran for interfering in the affairs of regional countries. 

The condemnation by 50 Muslim countries attending the recently concluded Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit was loud and clear but also came with some degree of hypocrisy, as the head of the pack of this anti-Iran initiative, Saudi Arabia, is not squeaky clean either. 
There is no good guy here and many countries and governments have blood on their hands as they, too, pushed to further their own agenda and regional influence by supporting one side over another in what has become a series of proxy wars in the Middle East.
Specifically, the leaders of more than 50 Muslim nations have accused Iran of supporting terrorism and interfering in the affairs of regional countries, including Syria and Yemen. 
“The conference deplores Iran’s interference in the internal affairs of states in the region and other member states, including Bahrain, Yemen, Syria, and Somalia, and its continued support for terrorism,” the OIC said in its final summit communique.
A day before the end of the three-day summit, when the communique was issued, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was harping on the theme of “we are Muslims” with the 57-member organisation, and urged the delegates not to send out divisive messages from the summit.
“No message which would fuel division in the Islamic community should come out of the conference,” Iranian press quoted Rouhani as saying.
Interestingly, the theme of this year’s summit hosted by Turkey was supposed to be about humanitarian issues stemming from the Syrian civil war.
But in the end politics prevailed and the end result could drive a deeper wedge between Iran and Saudi Arabia, the two key players backing various armed groups and governments in the region engaging in bloody conflicts.
Iran has been backing the Houthi movement in Yemen, which has been battling forces loyal to Yemen’s Saudi-backed president. The conflict has claimed more than 6,000 lives since it erupted in March 2015.
 Turkey and Saudi Arabia are part of the US-led coalition against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad whose main ally and backer happens to be Iran. Incidentally, all of these warring parties are supposed to be fighting the Islamic State terrorists. 
Besides Syria and Yemen, Iran’s sphere of influence stretches to Lebanon.
But the outcome of this OIC summit was already evident when Saudi Arabia pushed ahead and established a multinational platform aiming at combating terrorism. But it was aimed at containing Iran’s influence in the region.
Outnumbered but not necessarily outgunned, Iran stood its ground at the summit, diplomatically speaking, while letting their military action on the ground do the talking. 
“Dialogue and interaction are the starting point for understanding the woes and contemporary political issues and resolving them,” Rouhani said in his speech at the summit.
“It is a reality that the decline of the Islamic civilisation started as great Islamic powers entered futile conflicts with each other in lieu of synergy, paving the way for foreign invasion.”
Perhaps unity and cooperation to combat the things that these leaders say could start with the two main powers, Iran and Saudi Arabia normalising their diplomatic relations and go forward from there. 
After all, these two nations are the engines that drive politics, as well as conflicts, in the region. 
Diplomatic ties were cut off last year after Saudi Arabia executed a prominent Shi’ite cleric and Iran responded by permitting protesters to storm the Saudi Embassy in Tehran and burn it down.
Historically, Shi’ites and Sunnis in this region had coexisted peacefully. Today, for many people, the banner of religion has replaced the banner of nationalism, as ongoing inter-state conflicts, as well as the failure of respective governments to provide goods and services to the people, has taken its toll on people’s faith in their nation’s leaders.
Besides diplomatic relations, perhaps Saudi Arabia and Iran could do more in terms of listening to their minority citizens – the Shi’ites in Saudi Arabia and the Sunnis in Iran.
 
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