Iran Middle East Opinion

Where Has Iran Gone Right and

Saudi Arabia Terribly Wrong?
by Zaher Mahruqi | September 24, 2014
Saudi Arabia and Iran have been in a constant struggle to be biggest players in
the Persian Gulf and the greater Middle East. Who is winning this war of pushing
and shoving?
Leadership
Expectations do breed frustrations and for the Muslim world no country has been
far from the aspiration of its people than Saudi Arabia and that has resulted in
much resentment against the Kingdom.
The undisputable center of the Muslim world in terms of faith and economic might
is Saudi Arabia. Had the Saudis taken their natural leadership role, more that a
billion and half people would have been under its wings. The Kingdom however has
failed to utilize its wealth and innate ideological position and instead of leading, it
generally lacked focus and commitment to the Muslims and instead submitted to
the will of the West.
Whereas the Kingdom has landed itself where the Muslim world perceives her as a
puppet to the Americans and others, Iran has painfully stood her ground against
them and against all odds. So as Irans great Satan, the US, has had its global
standing decline due to bloody wars that happened to be mostly against Muslims,
Iran projected itsel as the leader in defending Muslims against the crusaders.
With millions affected by US wars, the Saudis were automatically associated with
the atrocities committed by the Americans against Muslims; thanks to the strong
bond between the two nations. More devastating is the-by-default association of
Saudi Arabia to Israel as the two countries are both strong allies of the US and both
staunch enemies of Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas among others.
Qatar, a miniature neighbor of Saudi Arabia, has been far more active in matters
related to the Arab and Muslim world than its giant neighbor. Qatar was a staunch
opponent to American war against Iraq in 2003, supporter of resistance
movements, and supporter of democratically elected Morsi government in Egypt.
Be it as it may, Qatar cannot fill the gaps that were intended to be filled by Saudi
Arabia and Iran has used Saudi incapacities to take the leading role to its full
advantage. Iran stands today as a leading figure as it relates to supporting struggles
of Muslims against crusaders and Zionists. Saudi Arabia is seen to be on the
enemys side.
While the Saudis have, overtime, managed to come across as either indifferent or
complacent to struggles of the Arabs and Muslims around the world, Iran has
always been upfront in its support for those struggles. With its support for Hamas
for example, it has managed to create for itself an image of a balanced nation who
only cares for Muslims no matter what sect they belong to.
To the contrary, Saudi Arabia has been openly anti Shia for example. Worse yet, it
has been anti resistance-movements including even the ones fighting against
Israel. It has spent billions of dollars supporting those fighting against those
fighting for just causes of the Muslim world. In effect, Saudi Arabia is perceived as
having been on the front line supporting all sorts of anti Muslims campaigns. The
major ones being its open criticism of Hezbollah in its war against Israel in 2006
and its muted stance as Israel massacred Palestinian children in the latest war
against Gaza.
Leadership cannot be separated from independence and politically, Iran is an
independent state which pursues its political goals free from external
interference. Iran chooses who to associate with, who to trade with and who to
support. While the Saudis appear politically confused and more often than not
simply ride the wave of American foreign policy, Iran has almost always been on the
opposing side.
You would remember the strong US rhetoric against Bashar Al-Assad when the
Syrian revolution started, at which point the Saudi had a very loud anti-Assad
voice. Then a couple of years passed and Bashar gave up his weapons of mass
destruction and the Americans and the Europeans softened their anti-Assad
rhetoric and characteristically the Saudis followed suit. Iran on the other hand
steered clear from conflicts that seemed to harm Muslims, at least overtly, save
those involving Israel and its support for Syria.
On the technological front, Iran is a far more independent State than Saudi Arabia
could ever be. While Saudis are so dependent of America in matters of education,
Iranians have their own unique educational system. There is no such thing as an
American University of Iran. In Saudi Arabia, almost every city has an American
university named after it.
On manufacturing, Iran manufactures all sorts of products; from civilian products
to highly sophisticated military and medical equipment. While the Saudis spend
billions procuring weapons from Europeans and Americans, Iran is now challenging
Israel in the production of military hardware and in deed has reached a point of
being almost self-sufficient. In fact, had it not been for sanctions, Iran would be a
net exporter.
When Iran manages to hack into an American drone and lands it safely, it comes
across as a mighty Muslim nation at the door gates of Western technological
advancements. Saudi Arabia on the other hand appears to be only capable of
purchasing weapons from the West and squandering invaluable resources
purchasing hardware that it is not willing to use in support of the Arab and Muslim
causes.
Iran produces high-tech military gadgets and appears capable of using them against
the enemies of Muslims if and when the necessity arises; at least that is the Muslim
publics perception. The Saudis, despite their wealth, are still years behind Iran as
far as technology is concerned.
Intelligence in Engagement
The Shia Sunni rift that is proving bloody across the Middle East appears more
inflamed by the Saudis than is by Iran. Iran is definitely involved in these Shia
Sunni struggles but Iran engages far more intelligently than Saudi Arabia. Iran is
perceived as being reacting to Sunni rise up against the Shia while Saudi Arabia is
seen as igniting and directly supporting bloody anti-Shia campaigns.
Iran is no doubt involved in the Shia and Sunni confrontations in Yemen, Bahrain,
Syria, Iraq and even Afghanistan, but does so very carefully. Iran wants a much
needed positive image for itself and is pursuing it with much success as the result is
that the Shia communities in all these conflicts are perceived to be the underdogs
who are only fighting for their survival.
In the intellectual bout between Iran and Saudi Arabia, Iran is flying high despite
the odds being against it. Iran has far more enemies than friends but yet manages
to stay afloat and does a good job of limiting the damage caused by biting sanctions
and massive propaganda against it. Enemies of Iran do inadvertently help Iran
improve her image by anti-Iran obsession that is portraying an infidel-led world
that is eager to see a technologically-advanced Muslim nation fail.
The Persian state successfully makes her enemies speak for her as their animosity
towards it which are translated into biting sanctions and threats of attack are
perceived by Muslims around the world as nothing more than an envious crusading
bunch against a mighty Muslim nation. Irans version of Islam is questionable but
the Ayatollahs appear more interested in religion than the Saudi Royals whom
Muslims perceive as only interested in the worldly goodies. Unless the strong Sunni
nation takes its position seriously, Iran will continue to make gains in the world
psyche especially Muslim psyche.