Iran-Saudi proxy war gains momentum

As the conflict in Syria continues, so does the Iran-Saudi proxy war in the Middle East. Several developments this week in the region highlighted the growing tactics used by Iran and Saudi Arabia in fear of each other and the Arab Spring.

Both Iran and the Saudis have a huge vested interest in Syria. The Assad regime and its supporters, mainly Alawites (an offshoot of Shia Islam), have enjoyed continuing support from Tehran. Syria has provided a gateway for Iran into Lebanon and Hezbollah, and as a result an avenue to destabilise Israel. It has also been known to use Syria as a ground for training insurgents to fuel the Sunni-Shia sectarian violence in Iraq. The Israelis are worried that with the collapse of the Syrian regime, the stockpile of arms currently in the country will make their way to Hezbollah and leave the Golan Heights open to al-Qaeda’s influence.

Such is Iran’s influence in Syria that it was able to mediate the release of two Turkish journalists this week that had been captured and held for two months while making a documentary of the uprising in the country. Tehran and Ankara enjoy good trade relations, but Turkey’s economy, especially in towns that border Syria, has been damaged by the uprising. Turkey’s relations with Syria have deteriorated from Prime Minister Erdogan and President Bashar enjoying holidays together to closing of the Turkish embassy in Damascus. Turkey also is currently home to nearly 25,000 Syrians, a figure that is increasing every day, and has frequently voiced the possibility of implementing buffer zones to protect the refugee camps along its borders.

Equally, Saudi Arabia has been reported to be providing arms and financial support to the Sunnis in Syria in their continuing uprising against Bashar. The Sunni Arabs in Syria make up a majority in the country, and such a majority rule would diminish Iran’s support base in the region. The Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, which has close ties with Riyadh and Ankara, would dominate rule post-regime – developments that worry Israel and Iran.

Now, the proxy wars have extended into Yemen and Bahrain. A recent Guardian article noted how the Hirak, a group of Yemeni secular activists, fighting for secession of the south were offered training and arms by Iran. Tehran is looking to get a foothold in the Gulf peninsula; the peninsula would allow important trade channels through the region, and strategically powerful positions to counter the Saudi influence. However, even some of the secular activists within Yemen are resigned to the growing prominence of al-Qaeda in the country. Saudi intelligence is strong in Yemen, and it is worth noting their role in the recent foil of the ‘underwear bomber’ plot.

In Bahrain, with a Shia majority and historical connections with Iran but ruled by a Sunni minority, is another piece in the Iran-Saudi game. The recent social unrest in Bahrain towards the ruling elite has been met with crackdown of civil liberties and State violence. Saudi Arabia has moved to support the ruling al-Khalifa family, militarily intervening last spring in Bahrain to suppress the uprising and forging ahead with a union of Persian Gulf states. The Saudis are worried that the spirit of the uprising could force its way across the border and disrupt their own fragile stability. Iran, meanwhile, condemned the idea of the union and warned of instability if the unity plan was to go ahead.

Across the region, the proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia plays out. As with the US and Russia during the Cold War, the two countries will fight their battles through other nations and their peoples, hijacking the Arab Spring for a sectarian tussle and for fear of the spirit of revolution reaching their lands – in the process creating instability and uncertainty in an already troubled region.