European Journal of Social Sciences ISSN 1450-2267 Vol. 57 No 2 November, 2018, pp.255-267 http://www.europeanjournalofsocialsciences.com/

The Iranian Intervention in the Arab States Affairs: Pretension and Facts

Abdulrahman Al-Fawwaz Associate Professor Department of Humanities, Al-Balqa' Applied University P.O.Box: 15008 Amman 11134 Jordan E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

Abstract , being one of the dominating super powers in the region has been known for its aggressive role in the entire world. The Arab region is exclusively recognized as its strategic position and the substantial availability of natural resources. In the past and even today, the west world have been protecting the global interest in the region and throughout the history, hostilities have been flaring up that affected the internal stability and peace situation. Among this, the role of Iran is dominated towards its intervention within the Arab States. The purpose of the paper is to analyze the Iranian interventions in the Arab States affairs. It tends to investigate that the specific conflicts created by Iran and the impact of those conflicts towards the peace and stability of the Arab States. The findings of the paper are obtained through secondary analysis and it reveals that the major intervention done by Iran in the Arab States are towards religious affairs, territorial, and security affairs, political and trading affairs. Moreover, the Iranian intervention is now expanded towards the military intervention in the Arab States as well, which is affecting the political stability of the region. As the present political situation is sensitive; therefore, much of the policy implications are considered weaker due to the fulfillment of state interest and security. However, there is need to focus on presenting major implications that can help to ensure the peace and stability of the region so that the socio-economic development can be restored.

Keywords: interventions, Iran, Arab States, war, conflict, religion, security, resources

Introduction Overview The Arabian Gulf considered as the critical block on the map of the world because of various dynamics and benefits. The significance of the region dates back and it considered as not only significant region because of oil extraction and production, but also the location of the region is established in middle of the world, which connects the entire economic and trading routes of the world (Barzegar, 2008; McNaugher, 2010; Al Kaabi, and Al Kaabi, 2011).

Background of Issue The establishment of Iran was the result of the Persian Empire that was in great power during 500BC- 651AD. During the period, the Safavid Empire gave rise to the formation of Iran because of the major conflict took place in 1501 where Twelver Shi’ism (the descending of Muhammad al Mehdi ) was 255 European Journal of Social Sciences – Volume 57, Issue 2 November (2018) declared as official religion of Iran, whereas Sunnism was majorly followed in Iran. The rise of Shi’ism was made to separate Iran from Sunni Empire. Safavids used the border of Iraq to convert people and launched the gory campaign against Ottoman Empire. This gave rise to Iran-Iraq Conflict and resulted in increasing gap between Shias and Sunnis . However, in 1979, the revolution of Khomeini changed the dynamics of Iran by imposing the Shi’ism theories (Al Kaabi, and Al Kaabi, 2011; Matin, 2007). In the past 30 years, three major conflicts and wars have taken place within Arab States, resulted in the global and regional instability. The Gulf War that took place between 1990 and 1991, the Iran-Iraq conflict, and the invasion of Iraq by the U.S. brought uproar within the entire region. Historically, the fall of Iraq promoted Iran to empower its political and nuclear system (Rahimi, 2011). Iran, being strong political and nuclear power exerted its power towards the region; the power and ability to destabilize the entire balance within the region by exerting more control and power of its nuclear weapons, ability to intervene in the war presently going in the Gulf states and marking the potential of its arms deployment in the region. Despite of this, the Gulf States and Iran both have common interest that is they share a common gateway towards the world i.e. the Strait of Hormuz , which gives channel to Iran and the Gulf States to pass oil and gas to the rest of the world (Talmadge, 2008).

Problem Statement Iran, being as a strong political and military block in the region has entered into the era of hegemony and power in the region; driven based on its political and regions’ ambition to strengthen its economic and international affairs. After the fall of the regime of Saddam and the beginning of the new era of power, Iran increased its level of influence in Gulf States as well as in Iraq by stepping forward towards domination (Kraig, 2004). Besides, the state after witnessing the Gulf tension expanded its vision where it revealed its nuclear ambitions to the entire world. However, with the intention of securing its border from Western influence and the impact of war in Gulf States, the nuclear ambitions of Iran developed insecurity and instability within the entire region. Towards the Gulf States, Iran emphasized upon raising its vocals to assert dominance based on its nuclear power; resulted historical turbulence between the Gulf States and the Iran, which gave rise to the new era (Al Kaabi, and Al Kaabi, 2011). The superfluous interventions of Iran among Gulf States was not limited to the political affairs, but to the internal affairs as well such as the religious differences were reached to its height, the rising security threats for the entire region, which led towards political disturbance within the region (Kraig, 2003). Based on this, the problem statement of the study was to critically review the Iranian intervention in the Arab States Affairs based on pretensions and facts.

Aims of the Study The aim of the paper was to critically review the role of Iran in the Arab state affairs and the affect of geopolitical, religious, nuclear, and security-based interventions of Iran in the Arab states affairs based on facts and pretensions.

Research Questions The questions for the study were as follows: What is the geo-political and economic significance of Iran within the Arab region? What is the divergence between Iranian ideology and Arab States’ ideology? What are the major interventions done by Iran toward the Arab States?

Significance of Study The paper helped to develop some significant understanding towards the Iranian perspective of power hegemony and political influence. It significantly contributes to understand the Iranian interventions in

256 European Journal of Social Sciences – Volume 57, Issue 2 November (2018) the internal Arab States affairs and the tensions that Iranian intervention has created among the Gulf States. With the help of the paper, great deal of information for the geopolitical investigators can be provided so that much can be explored in the future on the issue. Especially, it aimed to enlighten the geopolitical practitioners to investigate new facts so that the issue can be explored exhaustively.

Research Methodology The present research paper provided a comprehensive review on the intervention of Iran in the Arab States affairs based on the pretension facts and evidences; therefore, the investigation was conducted by gathering extensive evidences through secondary means of the data collection. The entire concept focused on gathering the composite facts, which focused on the background and historical perspective of Iran, its origination and the contribution of Iran in the Arab States based on its political and economic significance. For this, the chosen philosophy for the research was social constructivism. With the help of social constructivism, the information constructed aimed to gather the multiple facts that helped in knowing the role of Iran and its political significance in the region. It helped in obtaining the subjectivity towards the issue by emphasizing on the key interventions done by Iran in the Arab state affairs. With the help of social constructivism, the paper helped in uncovering the clear perspective towards Iran’s intervention in the Arab States based on its political and religious interest. Based on the chosen research philosophy, the research design suitable for the paper was exploratory research design. Generally, the secondary investigations are supported by the exploratory research design, which helps to explore issues comprehensively. Exploratory research designs mainly help in conducting the critical and exhaustive reviews by gathering facts from past studies. However, the adoption of exploratory research design created limitation on the methods adopted for the paper. For instance, the descriptive data have not been discussed related to the issue. The material that has been gathered for the paper was obtained from published documents and reports. Mainly, the research papers that shared exploratory evidences have been used in order to support the arguments and present the critical review on the major interventions done by Iran in the Arab States affairs. The material that have been used for conducting the analysis was obtained from the journal articles such as The changing perception of Iran towards the Gulf States by Alam, (2001); State-Building in Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War and the Gulf Crisi s by Davis, (2014); Comparative Study of International Commercial Arbitration and International Law in Iran by Hashemi, and Mardani, (2016). Books have also been referred, which include Group conflict and political mobilization in Bahrain and the Arab Gulf: Rethinking the Rentier State by Gengler, (2015); Iran, Iraq and the Arab Gulf States by Kechichian, (2016) and websites such as Key Facts about the Way in Yemen by Alijazeera (2016); Iran’s Involvement in Iraq by Beehner, and Bruno, (2008). Newspaper articles have also been studies, which include the articles on Iran Third Biggest Trading Partner of Iraq by Financial Tribune (2018); The Facts Behind Iran’s Involvement in Syria by Iran News Update (2017); The and Syria Facts and Figures by Israel Defense Force (2018). Besides, more secondary data have been gathered in order to investigate the issue and present analysis upon it.

Literature Review Geo- Political and Economic Impasse among Iran and Arab Region Geographically, Iran shares its border with the entire northern shores of the Arabian Gulf states (Nuruzzaman, 2012). It also forms territory with the Strait of Hormuz, which further provides power to control strategic choke point in entire Gulf states. According to the studies conducted by past scholars and experts Alam (2001); Rich (2012); Taremi (2014) it has been elucidated that there are conflict- ridden relations among Gulf Arab and Republic of Iran due to political and strategic factors. However, the recent study conducted by Hokayem (2014), demonstrate that the economic dimensions are de-

257 European Journal of Social Sciences – Volume 57, Issue 2 November (2018) emphasized, which plays a significant part in escalating the conflicts among Kuwait, Iran, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates. Historically, the Middle East is the hotbed of conflicts due to boundary disputes, territorial disputes water shortage and irredentism (Bulloch and Morris, 2016). Among of them the most prominent conflicts are of (i) Israel and Palestinian territorial (ii) UAE-Iran conflicts over the smaller island and Abu Musa (iii) Iran claims over Bahrain (iv) Kurdish irredentist movement in the Syria and Iraq and the conflicts among Syria and Israel (Goode, 2014). Among all of them, the US invasion of Iraq has further contributed to expanding the conflict matrix where the new conflict emerged (Pradhan, 2018). These conflicts are chronologically linked with one another including the Sunni – Shi’ite violence that escalated Iran –US nuclear conflicts and Iran- Saudi competition. Therefore, these conflicts are ignited during US invasion of Iraq 2003, which greatly contributed towards geopolitical tension among Iran and the Gulf Region (Goudarzi and Nazarpour, 2019).

Iranian Ideology and Gulf States The Iranian ideology is based on the radical interpretation of Islamic principles and since 1979 the writing of Ayatollah Khomeini are exercised. The Iranian perceptions of the regional security further defined Iran foes and friends in the national role and the security in the Gulf state is also coloured by the ideology. Ehteshami and Nonneman (2015), the ideology of Ayatollah Khomeini and his successor is based on two aspects the one who follows the “right path”, which are revealed by the Allah to his prophets and who follow the “corrupt path” that is for disbelievers (Hassan, 2015). Therefore, Iran considers itself as the truly Islamic country and they obligated to fight with the oppressor. In this regard, Iran has labelled the United States as the Satan and they refused to acknowledge any legitimated and ruled out of cooperation with the US on the Gulf security (Milani, 2018).

Iranian Movement and Intervention into Arabian Gulf Regions Iran is an external player in the Gulf and paradoxically and it has simultaneous desires in order to play a prominent role in the Gulf affairs (Berti and Guzansky, 2014). The desire to dominate the Gulf stem is due to its national pride and the exaggerated perception for the self-importance. According to Salisbury (2015), Iran has the long history, which goes back to 3000 years due to this, the country has rich experience in exercising its influence over the Gulf states. It has been recognized as the cradles of the civilization and in ancient times during 550 to 330 BC Achaemenid, 140- 224 Parthian and 224- 651 Sasanian dynasties Iran was one of the greatest empires that extended from the Hellespont towards northern India and from Egypt towards Central Asia and up towards modern Kazakhstan (Gause, 2014). However, today Iran is not recognized as the major power as it was before then the modern times. Due to ancient glory, Iran enjoys the superiority over other neighbour and the Gulf States, but today in regional terms the country doesn’t play any dominant role in the Gulf region (Mason, 2014). Besides this, the other factor which accounts for the Iranian intervention in the Gulf region is because of its geographical location, military power, largest gross, national product and population. The country has largest armed forces and navy, which is arguably strongest among all its littoral states. Aras and Akpınar (2017), the population is over 60 million with the largest GNP. The economy is highly sophisticated based on technology and the literacy level is higher than in other countries. It is richer in the oil and gas industry and has extensive agricultural facilities. Therefore, by continuing the strategic, historic, geographic, educational and economic factor, the plays dominant role and intervene in the affairs of other Gulf States (Khalid and Safdar, 2016).

258 European Journal of Social Sciences – Volume 57, Issue 2 November (2018) Sectarian/ Religious Conflicts between Iran and Arab States As argued by Kechichian (2016), the Islamic sectarian have marred Arab-Iran relationship since 2003 and it has divided Sunni-Shi’ite, which become more prominent when the Saddam Husain government fell to US forces. Besides this, in the Arab region, the self-projected metaphors of Saudi Arabia and Iran further complicated the relationship and Iran is leading Shi’ite power; whereas Saudi Arabia considers itself as the defender for Sunni Muslim (Gengler, 2015). These sectarian conflicts pulled out Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Bahrain and Lebanon apart. During 1979, there were not the major issues among Iran and Saudi Arabia expect the issues of Soviet communism and due to Soviet expansion, the Ba’ath emerged in Baghdad, which further put and Riyadh in the same orbit (Davis, 2014). This created cordial bilateral relations but after the Iranian revolution in 1979 the apprehension of Gulf states towards Iranian religious authorities increases when Ayatollah Khomeini called the Arab people in order to overthrow monarchal regimes which were “Un-Islamic” (Gilson, 2016). This further revolt Shi'ite people in Al Hasa and by end of 1979 the Saudi government blame Iran for the unrest situation that suppressed rebellion where the number of Shi’ite killed and the leaders were detained and forced to exile. The relationship between Saudi Arabia and Iran improved after the 1990s when Iran implemented on pragmatic foreign policies. During this president, Khatami did persuade proactive relationship which further enhances the roes among Arab neighbours and to the west coast of the Arabian Gulf (Hashemi and Mardani, 2016). Iran coordinated with Saudi Arabia and followed the framework of OPEC so that they can keep the oil prices at reasonable levels. However, after 2006 the outbreak Sunni-Shi’ite sectarian concludes destabilize the relationship between Saudi Arabia and Iran which pitted both of them against one another. However, Iran intervene into the installation of a friendly government in the Baghdad that further did not pose any threat to Tehran and it gradually disengaged the American and Saudi Arabia was further sought to support the secular Iraqi government (Ulrichsen, 2017). Esfandiary and Tabatabai (2016), the Iran relationship with other Gulf neighbours are marginally related to the territorial conflicts. During 1975 the intervention of Algiers Accord the longstanding conflicts among Tehran and Bagdad of thorny Shatt al Arab were resolved and the Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein abrogated unilaterally the Algiers Accord, which ended the long war as Tehran and Baghdad accepted the Accord as the binding (Ulrichsen, 2017). During 1971 Iran took over islands and Abu Musa which cause disputes with UAE over the islands. Until the 1960s Saudi Arabia and Iran had gone through similar issues over the island of Farsi and Arabia that are located on the Persian Gulf (Esfandiary and Tabatabai, 2016). At the end of 1968, the Tehran and Riyadh resolved their disputes as they agreed that Arabia will belong to Saudi Arabia and Iran Farsi will be the in Iran. Later on, Bahrain resolved disputes which further threaten the relationship between Iran and other Gulf nation (Rouhi, 2018). However, today Iran no longer claims Bahrain as the official part of Iran territory, but since 2007 there are several claims which reveal that Bahrain belongs to Iran which flares up tension throughout the Gulf region. During 2009 Bahrain freeze its diplomatic relationship with Iran for several weeks due to Iranian claim that Bahrain is the 14th province of Iran. Therefore, after clarification of Iran, the normal relations were resumed.

The Iranian Nuclear Program as a Major Conflicts in the Region The Iranian nuclear program is one of the major conflicts between the US and Iran and Israel and Middle Eastern ally. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states are often concerned about nuclear-armed Iran and this is the reason for Iranian-Saudi competition in order to increase the influence and dominance over the Gulf sub-region (Hashemi and Mardani, 2016). Besides this, the rise of sectarian violence among Sunni- Shi’ite also shared the Saudi responses towards Iranian nuclear program and due to opposing interest the Iranians deemed the presence of US military in the Middle Eastern region (Rouhi, 2018). In this regard, Tehran views the nuclear programs as the last line for the defence against the US 259 European Journal of Social Sciences – Volume 57, Issue 2 November (2018) aggression. After the election of 2005, the Iranian president clarified that Iran will not accept American dictates and further warned the US against such type of Act (Israel Defense Force, 2018). Iran further intervenes and refused to negotiate over the uranium of Tehran enrichment program. During 2007 the Saudi King disapproved the efforts if George W. Bush, which created an anti-Islamic US-led coalition in order to attack and to destroy the Iranian nuclear amenities (Beehner and Bruno, 2008). Due to fear of post-attack, the Saudi government supported the negations and peacefully revolved the Iranian nuclear program, but according to Wiki leaks, there is a dispute which confirms that the US and Saudi King secretly exhorted to attack Iran and destroy the nuclear facilities as it is the source for imminent danger to the entire Gulf region. However, Financial Tribune (2018) UAE has already signed the agreement with France in order to counter the Iranian nuclear facilities and in six Gulf cooperation and it is declared that due to the nuclear threat from Iran the Gulf Arab states are acquired to develop nuclear capabilities for their security hedges and for the domestic consumption.

Security Conflicts due to Iranian Intervention in Arab States Affairs The security conflicts are originated due to difference Iran-Arab perception or the misperception, which further influence the nuclear issues (Ulrichsen, 2017). The foreign policy of Iran and the security policies of Iran are focused towards Gulf sub-region (Rich, 2012). This is why Iran is considered to be the centre of the Gulf security due to which the external and intraregional power must remain to acknowledge. However, according to the facts shared on Trosclair (2018), it is noted that in the Gulf state Iran remains a potential threat due o its geographical factors which includes territorial size, conventional military, vast population, atomic power and abundance oil because of which Iran acquires the hegemonic position in entire Gulf region. Due to threat the sub Gulf region promptly seek military relations with the US so that they can counter the threat from Iran (Israel Defence Force, 2018). Iranian Intervention into Yemen – Since the last two decades, there is numerous assertion by Saudi, Yemeni and other Gulf countries that Iran is involved in supporting the northern Yemeni rebels (Ulrichsen, 2017). During 2011 the situation changed when Iran enhanced its involvement on Yemen that caused chaotic situation throughout the final years of the Saleh regime (Iran News Update, 2017). The war in Yemen killed about 10,000 Yemenis and the death toll has been increased by 50,000 during 2017. Iranian has been claimed by Gulf regions especially by Saudi Arabia for the political and diplomatic support to the rebellious group known as Houthis which is undeniable (See Appendix A). The evidence shows that the Iranian government is actively involved in providing sophisticated weapons to the rebellious groups which are volition under the International Law and in the UNSC resolution 2216 (Terrill, 2014). Iranian Intervention into Syria – Since the emergence of civil war in 2012 Iran has been growing its presence in Syria and both of the states have maintained strategies alliances with one another throughout history (See Appendix B). Due to a long-term relationship and political bounds Iran provides technical, logistical and financial support to the combat troops and the Iran Supreme leaders Ali Khamenei reported in favour of Syrian government (Esfandiary and Tabatabai, 2016). The intelligence services and Iranian security are assisting and advising the Syrian military so that they can preserve Bashar al Assad. During 2013 Iran had 10000 operatives in Syria and reported in the Guardian the Iranian government assists the Syrian government for intelligence monitoring and controlling equipment (Alijazeera, 2016). Therefore, the intervention of Iranian military in the Syrian conflict started in 2011 and after the outbreak of rebellion against Assad regime, Iran provided aid to the Assad regime including gaming equipment, communication equipment, arms shipments, and $ 3.6 million financial aid (Terrill, 2014). The fighting and war gradually grew more intensively and Iran dispatches its offices in the Quds forces (Salisbury, 2015). This Iranian intervention escalated in 2014 after the development of the Islamic State in Syria that weakens the Assad (Regime Bodansky, 2018). Taremi (2014) the reason behind intervening in Syria is because of its strategic value. Syria has to neighbor with Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen where the Iranian regime is involved actively in the

260 European Journal of Social Sciences – Volume 57, Issue 2 November (2018) military and politically through the militias and proxy groups. The US-led invasion of Iraq leads towards quasi-occupation by the Iranian where Syria become one of the greater value to the Tehran as it provides the direct corridor to the Mediterranean sea (Salisbury, 2015). Therefore, the core reason for escalating involvement into Syria is not to support an ally but Iran aims to maintain its position in future for long-term affairs. Iranian Intervention into Iraq – Since the 1980s the Iran and Iraq conflict begun when Iraq invaded in Iran and when the UN-brokered ceasefire was accepted by Iran. Throughout the historical era, Iraq plans to replace the diplomatic power of Iran in Gulf State, and the Iranian Revolution in 1979 lead the Iraq Shi’ ite rebel against the government of Ba’athist (Alam, 2001). However, during all these decades both countries have developed bilateral relations and since 2005 the relationship has been improved. Today the Iran and Iraq relation plays a significant role in the reconstruction of the Iraqi economy as now Iran is a 3rd largest trading partner of Iraq with about 16% of share (See Appendix C). In 2010 both of the countries signed 100 cooperation agreements for the economic development and the trading volume reached $12 billion during 2013 (Terrill, 2014). The present political situation and security within the Arabian Gulf reflects grim concern of the entire region as well the world due to the major contribution of the Gulf States towards ensuring peace. The external as well as the regional powers such as the U.S., Russia, Europe, Iran, UAE, Qatar, and Kuwait are well aware of the significance of the Gulf region and its contribution in the development of the international socio-economic system (Al Kaabi, and Al Kaabi, 2011). Moreover, the stability of the energy system in the Gulf region has been considered as the priority for the emerging economies as well as Iran. Despite of such significance, the Gulf States in the past and even today is experiencing the situation of conflict, war, and anarchy, due to which there is a turbulent turmoil led towards various geopolitical challenges. Iran, being one of the strongest economies in the entire region strengthens its internal system by empowering its military and civilians to stand against their rights. The autonomy and power that Iran enjoys is influencing the geopolitical dynamics of the Gulf States. From the analysis presented in the paper, it was found that the rising conflicts in the Gulf region are due to war and security issues (Beehner and Bruno, 2008). The intervention done by Iran is not only limited to political barriers, but towards the religious as well as security of the Gulf States too. The conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia are based on the political disagreements, but deep down the basis of the conflict lies on the religious differences between both the countries. Due to this, the military and political interventions are witnessed in Syria (Financial Tribune, 2018). However, the rise of ISIS made both the countries along with the rest of the world to join their hands in order to fight against ISIS so that the political and socio-economic stability can be reinstalled. There have also been constant crisis between Bahrain and Iran, which rose up to the level where Bahrain supported Israel against Iran in Syria (Terrill, 2014). The rise of the conflicts between the Gulf region is due to the unwanted intervention of Iran in the direct and proxy wars within the same region. From the analysis, it was also found that the major reason for Iran to ensure its political involvement because of the rising intervention of Western part of the world, which gave rise to war and the formation of ISIS. Hence, to secure the country’s interest and maintain the internal socio-economic stability, Iran empowered its civilians and military to stand against the entire world. Besides, the country is also at protecting the religious interest within the state and across the Gulf region in order to secure the Shia communities all over the world (Boghani, 2018).

Conclusion and Recommendations Conclusion The analysis and the discussion presented in the paper conclusively reflects that Iranian intervention in the Gulf state affairs is not only limited to political involvement, but towards the religious, territorial and military as well. There have been exhaustive investigations presented in the past and at present; many discussions are done on Iran’s role in the Gulf stability. However, the major outcome found 261 European Journal of Social Sciences – Volume 57, Issue 2 November (2018) based on the serious interventions done by Iran is due to the protection of religious interest and securing the states’ beliefs and religious associations. Besides, the rising intervention of the U.S. in Gulf region has affected the trust of communities in the Gulf region by increasing the level of insecurity in them. Especially, the war that took place in Iraq, which devastated the entire social and economic system of Iraq was catastrophic. Another war that is still taking place in Syria has affected the interest of various countries in the Gulf region. This increased the level of insecurity towards protecting the natural reserves, and resources, which resulted in rising Iranian interventions. The paper categorically concludes that the situation of war and terror in the late 90’s have affected the peace and stability within the Gulf region as the whole. The war for the oil and gas, religious beliefs, and the strategic position of the Gulf resulted in the rising instability within the region, which is not only created by the intervention of Arab and the Gulf states itself, but due to the major involvement of Western part of the world as well. However, the increasing instability in the Gulf region gave rise to several civilian religious arms as well as ISIS, which has become a threat to the entire world along with Iran.

Recommendations From the analysis and conclusion presented, certain recommendations based on policy implications are been made, which may help to understand the Iranian perspective and the initiatives needs to be taken by Iran to avoid its intervention among Gulf state affairs. Mainly the stability and peace of the Gulf state is much dependent on the regional relationships that tend to form with the other states. The political stability of the region will result in the economic growth and socio-cultural development. However, in the past decades, the rising conflicts reshaped the entire geopolitical picture of the peace within the region. The desire to create strong defense and arm forces precluded the division of the natural resources. In such circumstances, there is need to harmonise the present situation of the war in Gulf States to reduce the level of rising tensions. The role GCC countries need to be more prominent in creating a middle way for the region and with the Iran too. It can also help in retaining the political, social, and economic stability among the Gulf States so that the civilians can live in peace. Dialogues and negotiations can be the best way for Iran to overcome the differences, which can help in reducing the impact of collateral damage within the region. For this, there is need to compromise on certain aspects in order to restore the peace and stability of the entire Gulf region.

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264 European Journal of Social Sciences – Volume 57, Issue 2 November (2018) Appendix A: Iran Involvement in Houthi Aggression

265 European Journal of Social Sciences – Volume 57, Issue 2 November (2018) Appendix B: Iran Involvement in Syria

266 European Journal of Social Sciences – Volume 57, Issue 2 November (2018) Appendix C: Iran Involvement in Iraq

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