By Abdulaziz Al-Anjeri
Special to The Times Kuwait
The Biden administration seems serious about reviving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on nuclear agreement with Iran, and again without any input from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states that have direct contact with Tehran.
Does the Biden administration think that the release of billions of dollars to the Iranian government will be used to serve the Iranian people? Does the administration not realize that those funds would be used to further destabilize the region and to bully Iran’s neighbors through proxies in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and other countries? The region is still bearing the scars of the funds that Obama released and that Iran subsequently leveraged to further destabilize Arab sovereignty.
The US government’s lack of foresight regarding the second and third-tier consequences of the sanctions it imposed on Russia has strengthened Iran’s power and negotiating position, especially as the West seeks to bring to the market Iranian oil. And in a case of fact being stranger than fiction, Russia serves as the intermediary between the US and Iranian negotiators in Vienna.
Evidence indicates that the new agreement will be weaker than the first JCPOA agreement, which will result in limiting Iran’s ability to produce nuclear weapons, but not prevent it from obtaining such weapons at some point.
From another perspective, observers of US policies toward the region can no longer ignore a theory that speculates the US is forcing all GCC states to deal directly with Israel, its biggest ally in the region, to counter Iranian threats, as the American administration seeks to expand the wave of normalization by any means possible, and according to this theory, whoever does not come to Israel on his feet desiring an American carrot will run to it to escape the stick of Iranian terrorism, so to speak.
Many US experts have warned of the consequences of this agreement too on the interests of their own country. Iran is seeking to deepen its security cooperation with Russia to counter the interests of the United States and its allies. And the existence of a nuclear agreement that provides Iran with substantial cash flows and a space for legitimate commercial transactions will reinforce these fears.
In light of continuous Iranian bullying, we in the Arabian Peninsula must realize that this battle is our battle, and it is no longer possible to count on America to stand up to Iran and to protect its Gulf Arab allies. In this, US President Biden’s policy toward Iran appears to be nothing more than a carbon copy of Obama’s policy from 7 years ago.
So what can we do? Perhaps it has become necessary now more than ever to peacefully confront Iran by cutting off any contact with this malignant regime, through a direct, comprehensive and unforgiving blockade which includes a complete boycott of Iranian products.
We need a united Gulf Arab leadership that has no room for sympathy towards Iran. Iran is a threat that must be confronted diplomatically, economically and culturally.
Yes, it is not an easy task, because Iran has accumulated experience in enduring sanctions and limited boycotts, but it has never before faced an economic boycott and complete Gulf isolation that stops short of a militarily intervention.