Political analysts in the Middle East have voiced fears this week that the severing of diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran could threaten the stability of the region.
Following Saudi Arabia’s lead, more Gulf nations have either severed diplomatic relations with Iran or recalled ambassadors as the dispute spreads across the Middle East.
“Saudi Arabia and Iran have a great impact on regional affairs, especially on issues with Yemen in the last two years. All sorts of conflict will be reflected in Yemen’s situation. Currently, the relationship between Saudi Arabia and Iran has reached its worst point since the Islamic Revolution in the early 1980s,” said Mohammed Saif Haider, a columnist and political analyst from Yemen.
Syrian analyst Mazen Bilal said he is worried that the row will affect the peace talks on Syria scheduled for the end of the January, as Saudi Arabia backs Syria’s opposition factions while Iran supports the Syrian government.
“The conflict between Tehran and Riyadh will be reflected on the conference table at the peace talks. Now all sides are under a tense atmosphere. This could lead to no consensus being reached at the talks. In fact, this crisis emerged at the very beginning of the Syrian peace talks,” said Bilal.
Bilal also said that as many nations in the region hold grudges against one another, he is concerned that the Saudi-Iran tension could start a chain reaction.
“The action [of breaking ties] is very dangerous because this naturally will affect the relations with one another of all nations in the region. We noticed the most intense relations are between Turkey and Syria, Turkey and Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Syria, and Saudi Arabia and Iran. The relations among countries have deteriorated. I’m afraid that there’s no power to bring them all together,” said Bilal. (CCTV/Reuters)
