Saudi, Emirati Concerns Regarding West’s Nuclear Deal With Iran: It Disregards Iran’s Threat To Region, Support Of Terror; Due To U.S. Hesitancy, Iran Is Greatest Winner In Negotiations

Amid reports in the global media that Iran and the superpowers, headed by the U.S., are close to renewing the nuclear deal, many articles in the Saudi and Emirati press express concern regarding the emerging agreement. They note that, like the deal of 2015, the renewed one does not address the demand of the Gulf states to restrain Iran’s problematic conduct in the region, and does not include firm restrictions on Iran’s missile program or the terrorist militias it deploys in Arab countries.  The articles warn that dismissing these concerns will exacerbate the tension and violence in the region and in the world.

The articles also accuse the Biden administration of conducting the negotiations in haste out of a desire to reach an agreement, which can be presented as an achievement to the American voter, before the U.S. Midterm Congressional Elections in November. The Biden administration, they say, was excessively weak and hesitant in the negotiations, whereas Russia and China firmly supported Iran, as a result of which Iran received many concessions and emerged as the big winner in the negotiations.

The concerns regarding the emerging deal, and the criticism against the U.S. for being over-lenient with Iran and ignoring its terror in the region, also found expression in cartoons published in the Gulf press.

This report presents some of these articles and cartoons.

Senior Saudi Journalist: Agreement’s Disregard of Iran’s Military Action In Arab States Will Increase Violence In Region And World

Senior Saudi journalist ‘Abd Al-Rahman Al-Rashed writes in his column in Al-Sharq Al-Awsat that the Western eagerness to renew the nuclear deal with Iran, and its disregard of this country’s military involvement in Arab countries, is even more worrying than the concessions Iran may receive as part of the deal, such as the lifting of sanctions, the funds it will receive and the release of its prisoners. This disregard, he warns, can increase the tension and violence in the region and may even have global implications: 

“According to the leaked information, the ‘comprehensive agreement’ between the superpowers and Iran is very similar to the previous agreement, and does not inspire optimism. It includes secret articles that both sides are concealing, but it won’t be long before they are exposed by some angry politician or diligent journalist, as happened with the previous agreement, whose secret details amazed many people when they were made public in 2015.

“The Americans and Europeans have been negotiating in Vienna for a year and a half now, and Iran’s Supreme Leader [Ali Khamenei] has only several more weeks to decide on the matter, because time is passing. The shadow of Donald Trump and the Republicans looms over the upcoming [Midterm] Congressional Elections in November [2022], and if the Democrats lose the majority in the Congress and Senate, which is likely, it will be harder and perhaps impossible to sign the agreement. In light of this urgency, the marathon of negotiations ceased, and Vienna became a delivery room where [the agreement is being delivered] by C-section. The main issues have mostly been agreed on, and what remains is the details, and that’s where the devil lies. No matter what is [eventually] agreed upon, [the resulting deal is] likely to be a disfigured creature, whether or not Iran gives up its [demand] to lift the sanctions from the IRGC, whether or not South Korea transfers the $7 billion [it owes] Iran, and whether or not the Europeans release all the malicious criminals close to the [Iranian] regime.  

“In my opinion, [all] these concessions in the agreement are a disgrace, but they are not as dangerous as the dismissal of the concerns regarding Iran’s military activity beyond its borders – in Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen, Gaza, Syria and Afghanistan – which will pour oil on the fire. Signing an agreement and lifting the sanctions, while keeping silent about Iran’s military activity abroad, will increase the tension and violence in the region. The damage will [also] reach the U.S. and Europe, renew the regional conflict and the international blocs [aligned with one side or the other], and will accelerate the expansion of the Russian and Chinese activity in the region…”

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