Saudis cut Iran ties out of weakness: Author

Press TV has conducted an interview with Kaveh Afrasiabi, author and political scientist from Boston, on Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif’s letter to the United Nations over Saudi Arabia’s provocations in the Middle East.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: Zarif in his letter said Saudi Arabia must choose between spreading hatred and terrorism and promoting stability and good neighborly relations in the region. What’s the significance of Zarif’s letter, the content and the timing of it?

Afrasiabi: Fortunately Dr. Zarif has tremendous reputation in the international diplomatic community and his letter would be taken very seriously particularly by the member states of the United Nations, given the background of Dr. Zarif as Iran’s former envoy at the UN.

And I really think that that was an excellent nuanced letter that on the one hand, pinpointed the various acts of misbehavior by the Saudis, on the other hand, reiterated Iran’s determination to deescalate the tensions with Saudi Arabia and restore healthy dialogue between the two countries, which is in interest of both countries - these two powerhouses in the region – [that] need to cooperate in order to stem the tide of terrorism that is a regional threat.

There are many crises transpiring in the region simultaneously today, including in Yemen and Syria, that requires cooperation of regional states. And the letter by Dr. Zarif should be taken seriously by the Saudi diplomats and officials, and hopefully will elicit a positive response.

Press TV: Why do you think Saudi Arabia has taken this hostile approach adopted towards Middle Eastern countries? And why do you think it is carrying out its policies regardless of all the cries against what’s happening in the Saudi kingdom?

Afrasiabi: I think that there are some proximate as well as long-term explanations for that dealing with the nature of the Saudi archaic royalty that has refused to modernize itself.

And as a result, the critical decision-making has fallen in the hands of basically a few individuals, who are new to decision-making and they have made a number of dysfunctional, erroneous policies, including jumping the gun and cutting off diplomatic ties with Iran. If you compare [it] to the Russian reaction to the Turkish downing of the jet when the Turkish embassy was pelted, the Turks didn’t close their embassy and neither should the Saudis.

This was a major policy error that is partly function of the novelty of these new officials, some of whom are very young, and unfortunately they have succumbed to Iranophobia and Shiaphobia, and there’s a long history of financial and other types of support for the extremists in Syria and other parts of the Middle East, as we know.

I think the vulnerabilities of the Saudi regime are a major factor explaining why they keep making these egregious mistakes and they definitely misread the mood of the international community and they miscalculated the reaction of the international community thinking that by blaming Iran, cutting off the ties with Iran, most of the UN member states will come on their side and fortunately, that has not been the case.

And Dr. Zarif’s letter illuminates the importance of Iran’s diplomatic counter-offensive to elucidate Iran’s logical point of view that hopefully will elicit positive response from the Saudis in the days to come.

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