Last year was tense, but 2016 could be worse

What the Arabic press is saying about the displomatic spat between Saudi Arabia and Iran, featuring Al Ittihad, Asharq Al Awsat and Al Hayat.

The torching of Saudi Arabia's embassy in Tehran helped prompt the severing of diplomatic relations. (Ebrahim Noroozi / AP)

The escalation of tensions in the region seems to be peaking at the beginning of the year, with Iran’s meddling in Saudi Arabia’s internal affairs causing strain.

Writing in Al Ittihad, the Arabic-language sister newspaper of The National, editor-in-chief Mohammed Al Hammadi said this has prompted some Gulf countries, including the UAE, to alter their diplomatic ties with Iran and recall their ambassadors.

He said 2016 had begun with a firm stand against terrorism, as the kingdom went ahead with the execution of 47 men convicted of terrorism offences. All but two were Saudi nationals and they reflected diverse ideologies and came from a variety of terrorist movements.

“Iran has rejected the ruling of the Saudi judiciary and intervened in the kingdom’s internal affairs, though the sentence was rendered against two of its citizens who posed a threat to the security and stability of the country and threatened innocent lives with their violent approach, through killings and terrorism,” he wrote.

“At this critical time in history, Arabs need to set their differences aside and put their interests first. They have lived through enough fragmentation, disagreement and discord.” Al Hammadi concluded that “the Iranian regime must realise that the Saudi-led coalition against terrorism will be active and will have an impact.

“Terrorists and terrorism and whoever supports them will know no respite as of today.”

In the pan-Arab daily Asharq Al Awsat, Abdel Rahman Al Rashed described recent events as the worst face-to-face diplomatic spat between Saudi Arabia and Iran in the past three decades.

That is why it drew so much comfort from the support of countries such as the UAE, Bahrain and Sudan, who either severed their diplomatic ties with Iran or recalled their ambassadors, he said, adding that these initiatives are meaningful for Saudi Arabia.

“Speculation about the causes behind the burning of the Saudi embassy in Tehran is widespread,” he noted.

“Was it an act of vengeance against Saudi Arabia for executing Nimr Al Nimr, or was it directed against the Iranian president Hassan Rouhani amid the struggle between internal powers, or to disrupt all efforts of communication between Riyadh and Tehran about Syria?”

Writing in the pan-Arab Al Hayat, Ghassan Charbel observed that the Saudi-Iranian conflict is no novelty.

“It entered a new phase when Iran started re-exporting the revolution after the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime. It grew due to numerous references to the ‘crescent’ that includes Baghdad, Damascus and Beirut and the rift grew deeper with the destructiveness of the Syrian conflict. The Houthi rebellion in Yemen also poured oil on the flames,” he wrote.

“Escalation in the crisis between Saudi Arabia and Iran serves as a warning about the acute polarisation in the Arab and Muslim world. It also threatens to deepen the confrontation in crises that were on a hopeful path to negotiations.

“Last year was truly difficult. These new beginnings seem to suggest that we are heading towards even greater difficulties.”

Translated by Carla Mirza