Good neighborliness; Keyword: Iran’s relations with the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council

Mehr News Agency, International Group: looking for Effectiveness In the 13th government in Iran, the policy of good neighborliness and improvement of neighborly relations was put on the agenda, and the main actions of the country’s foreign policy officials were organized in order to establish constructive interaction with the neighbors in the north and south.

It is an important part of Iran’s relations with its southern neighbors on the shores of the Persian Gulf, which in various commercial, political and security fields have resulted in the achievement of extensive benefits for both Tehran and other countries. It will be south of the Persian Gulf.

In the years after the Islamic Revolution, with the extensive activity of the United States, Iran was introduced as the number one enemy of the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf, and an arms race took place after that, in which the countries made it the biggest buyer of arms in the world. Now, with the change of the international order and the strengthening of the multipolar system, in addition to the fact that Washington is no longer the only foreign power influencing the politics of the Middle East region and actors such as China and Russia have also played a role in this turbulent region, the countries of the region have come to the conclusion that what in the long run It will lead to the realization of stability, not by big foreign powers, but by the improvement of neighborly relations.

Last year, the countries of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council and Iran took a positive path in expanding their relations, except in limited cases. In fact, after the normalization of relations between Tehran and Riyadh, the improvement of Iran’s relations with other countries of the Cooperation Council is taking place in a dominovar manner; This will bring economic benefits in the short term and positive security consequences in the long term.

Arabia; Big competitor

Iran and Saudi Arabia have long been important rivals to each other due to the fact that they were the two largest countries in the Persian Gulf region in terms of size and population. History was friendly and sometimes hostile. After the relations between Tehran and Riyadh were temporarily cut off in 2014, efforts were made by the Sultanate of Oman and Iraq to re-establish relations between the two countries.

In the end, China was the mediator and in March 1401, Iran and Saudi Arabia After 7 years, they resumed bilateral diplomatic relations.

The beginning of 1402 coincided with the process of improving bilateral relations; On the 16th of June this year, the Iranian embassy was reopened in Riyadh, and on the 27th of June, the Saudi Foreign Minister visited Tehran. The improvement of bilateral relations continued throughout the year, and during the Gaza war, the authorities of Tehran and Riyadh discussed and consulted many times regarding the solution of the Palestinian issue.

United Arab Emirates; Business partner

Among the countries of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council, Iran has the most economic relations with the United Arab Emirates. For this reason, in many cases, even when issues related to the three islands are raised, it is not able to break the relations between Tehran and Abu Dhabi. Iran’s relations with the UAE also expanded more quickly after the normalization with Saudi Arabia.

On June 23, 1402, Ali Bagheri, the political deputy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran, traveled to the UAE and met with Anwar Gargash The diplomatic adviser of the President of the UAE visited. This year, the UAE also announced at the Jeddah meeting with the presence of US President Joe Biden that it will not join any security agreement against Iran.

Bahrain; A different neighbor

Iran’s relations with Bahrain have been pursued under different conditions than other countries of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council. Although many analysts considered Bahrain to be the follower of Saudi Arabia and believed that the improvement of relations between Tehran and Manama will happen shortly after the normalization of relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia; But this prediction did not turn out to be correct.

The reason for this should be found in the Shia majority in Bahrain and the government that came from the Sunni minority of this country /span> did. In fact, the Bahraini authorities consider close relations with Tehran as a threat to themselves because of the Shia Islamic system, because they will be deprived of the possibility of suppressing the Shiites. Shia protests in this country after the Islamic revolution and after observing the situation of fellow believers in the neighboring country have occurred many times and each time they have ended with the suppression of the government apparatus.

Oman; A peaceful coexistence

In addition to the fact that Oman’s foreign policy has always been based on peace and diplomacy; But in relation to the Islamic Republic of Iran, especially in recent years, there are other issues besides the grand policy of Muscat. Oman supplies more than 90% of the food needed by its citizens through imports. On the other hand, this country’s access to oil and gas resources is more limited than its other neighbors; Therefore, it is always dependent on other countries to supply its needed energy.

In recent years, Oman has realized that despite the differences it has with the United Arab Emirates, it will not be able to provide long-term gas from this country; Therefore, the development of relations with Iran enables Oman, on the one hand, to have the possibility of supplying the gas it needs from Iran’s sources in the Caspian Sea, and on the other hand, Iran is a transit route that connects Oman to the gas of Turkmenistan and Russia. Last year, the Sultan of Oman traveled to Iran with an economic delegation, which was considered an important event in the bilateral relations between Tehran and Muscat.

Kuwait; Arash Square crisis

Although the political relations between Tehran and Kuwait have never deteriorated in the past years and in most cases a minimum of diplomatic relations between the two countries has always been maintained, in the year In the past, the issue of Arash joint gas field or Al-Dara once again caused differences between the two countries.

About 40% of the Arash gas field is in Iranian waters and 60% of it is in the joint waters of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The Islamic Republic of Iran has repeatedly stated that all three countries share the gas resources of this field. However, Kuwait’s oil minister once again announced in September of last year that we completely reject Iran’s activities around Al-Dara field. Al Dara is the natural wealth of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. This incident angered Iran’s foreign policy apparatus and went so far that Iran stated that if this issue is not resolved, it will ask international judicial bodies to intervene.

Qatar; friend and neighbor

The relations between Tehran and Doha have been positive and friendly for most of the time. Last year, Tehran hosted the 9th session of the Iran-Qatar Joint Economic Cooperation Commission with the presence of Ali Akbar Mehrabian, Iran’s Minister of Energy, Sheikh Mohammad Bin Hamad Bin Qasim Al-Abdullah Al Thani, Minister of Industry and The trade was Qatar. This commission is working to expand commercial cooperation between the two countries. Considering that Qatar has a serious need to import food on the one hand and construction materials on the other hand, Iran can expand its exports to Doha in the aforementioned fields.

During the Gaza war, Iran’s foreign minister also visited Doha to discuss efforts to establish a ceasefire in Gaza and go In the recent war in Gaza, on the one hand, with its diplomatic efforts and on the other hand, by using the Al Jazeera network as an arm of soft power, Qatar has made an all-out effort to defend Palestinian civilians.

Bahre Sakhan

GCC countries’ relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran have been subject to various issues; On the one hand, the change in the security order in the region caused these countries to improve relations with their neighbors instead of relying on foreign military forces, on the other hand, the current government in Iran focused on improving relations with its neighbors in the northern borders instead of European countries. and South and welcomes the desire of these countries to develop bilateral relations.

Finally, both sides have come to the conclusion that the difference in their views on security and strategic issues will not lead to an arms race and insecurity in the Persian Gulf; Therefore, the development of cooperation in less controversial matters such as commercial relations was put on the agenda so that in the long term the cooperation can be extended to the political and security fields as well.