Showing true colours?

Confirming the fear of some of its neighbouring countries that it seeks to become a regional power in the region, Iran’s chief of staff of the armed forces was recently quoted by the semi-official news agency Tasnim as saying that his country is considering setting up naval bases in Syria and Yemen, which, the general believes, “is ten times more important” than nuclear power “and creates deterrence”.

He also said that Iran is able to set up permanent platforms for military purposes in the Arabian Gulf and roving ones in other places.

Tehran’s military doctrine has of course the backing of the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who described the sea as the scene of “powerful confrontation with enemies” and said the future of power is based on strong presence in the seas.

Iran has been constantly suspected of harbouring an expansionist policy in the Middle East. It now seems bent on consolidating its gains in Syria and Yemen — where it fights proxy wars, on the side of Syrian President Bashar Assad, in the former, and of the Houthi militias against Saudi Arabia, in the latter — and strengthening its hegemony. 

Iran’s designs on the region only add to the concerns of the countries of the Middle East, and farther beyond. They signal Tehran’s determination to be the biggest regional power, a plan unfortunately made easy by the disarray, conflict, and ethnic and sectarian machinations in the Arab countries. 

An extended Iranian presence across the region is disturbing and would further deepen the Shiite-Sunni confrontation.

It could become the prescription for an even more turbulent Middle East, where the rift between the two main Islamic sects would assume more ominous proportions. 

The Middle Eastern nations fought long and hard to get rid of foreign military bases spread out across the region.

Iran seems now bent on assuming the colonial mantle, but the Arab countries, which fought colonial powers for decades, will not allow Iran to replace them. 

This is the time for Arab countries to unite and send a clear message to Iran that its designs on the Arab world will simply not succeed.

In a surprise rebuke of their patron, the Houthis’ political council chief, Saleh Al Samad, said in a statement on Facebook: “Not one inch of Yemen’s land or waters will be forfeited to any foreign party... whether a friend or an enemy.”

That should be the tone across the Arab world.