In the paper, it has been sought to present an analysis of the Zionist regime and Saudi Arabia’s relations and answer the question that: regarding a fundamental disagreement between the two regimes as well as their religious oppositions, is it possible for them to strengthen and deepen their relations? Using Walt Stephen’s theory of balance of threat as a theoretical framework, the paper studies the hypothesis of the unity of strategy of the two countries, particularly against Iran. As inferred in the paper, regarding Iran’s increasing influence and power in West Asia, the two countries while considering such a reality as a threat and adopting a practical policy, have become closer to each other and deepened their relations. On this basis, they will strengthen the relations in future.
Strategic objectives of the close ties between Zionist regime and Saudi Arabia
A set of factors have led to the emergence of a type of strategic alliance between Riyadh and Tel Aviv. Both countries are opposed to Iran’s influence and power in Yemen and Syria. Both have been struggling to deal with the power and influence of Iran in the region through creating a new front centred on Iranophobia and in pursuit of this goal, they have employed the same strategies in regions and countries like Syria, Yemen and Iraq as well as with respect to Iran’s nuclear crisis in recent years. In fact, this coalition is created within the framework of balancing the threat for confronting a common threat called resistance forces.
Saudi Arabia is confident that Iran has changed the balance of power in the region. The Saudis have introduced Iran as the cause of conflict in the Muslim world and believe that Iran seeks to humiliate the Arab community. They believe that when Iran can play a role in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq, therefore, this system would also affect regional equations and the influence of Saudi Arabia, and thus it is considered a fundamental threat to Saudi Arabia (Dekel and Guzansky, 2013:3).
A) The common enemy
Saudi Arabia and the Zionist regime have become a united force against their common enemy that is some countries and groups in West Asia, in a way that this opposition led to the establishment of closer ties and strengthening and deepening of the security and political relations between two countries.
The presence of these common enemies has increased the potential for strategic cooperation between Saudi Arabia and the Zionist regime and strengthened the alignment factor of their security policies. The most important of such countries and groups are:
1) Iran
Relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia during the post-revolutionary period have been fluctuating in the midst of a range of distrust and hostility. There has always been rivalry and confrontation between these two countries as two major oil producers, Shi’ah and Sunni advocators and those who claim the leadership of the Islamic world.
The occurrence of the Islamic Revolution in Iran has led to the formation of new geopolitical data in the Persian Gulf and West Asia. This phenomenon has provided a setting for the creation of conflict and divergence within the relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia and some countries in the region. From this date onwards, the pattern of controversy and permanent crisis in the relations of two countries, except for a limited period, was inspired by two distinguished readings of the concept of shari’ah, denomination and political Islam. In the wake of the Islamic revolution of Iran, the political and revolutionary ideology of Shi’ah was brought into conflict with the Sunni and Wahhabi doctrine of Saudis and both challenged the other’s legitimacy. (Sari’ al-Qalam, 1995: 306)
The invasion of Iran by the Iraqi Ba’ath regime in 1980 was followed by the widespread financial and military support of the newly established Gulf Cooperation Council in general and its most influential member i.e., Saudi Arabia in particular, as well as the killing of Iranian pilgrims in 1987 by Saudi government agents along with some other incidents, have given rise to the emergence of hostility in terms of the relations between two countries during the 1980s.
Despite the relative improvement of, yet short-lived, relations between two countries in some periods after the end of the Iran-Iraq War, we see the continuation of these confrontations and, at best, they being reduced to a form of regional rivalry from being a hostile conflict. (Khezri and others, 2015: 171)
Saudi Arabia considers Iran as its main rival in the field of leading the Islamic world and fears that the nuclear deal between Iran and the world powers will cause the United States to choose Iran as its ally in the Persian Gulf instead of Saudis.
Riyadh’s foreign policy strategies to confront Iran include widespread engagement in imposing international sanctions against Iran, conflict of interests and confrontation with allies of Iran including Syria and Yemen, attempts to exploit the ethnic divisions that exist inside Iran especially in the Kurdish and Sunni areas, and establishing unity and integrity among the Persian Gulf states with the aim of countering Iran’s influence and power in the region.
The attitude of Saudi Arabia toward Iraq’s developments is in accordance with the regional balance of power against Iran. The empowerment of Shi’ahs in Iraq and the growing influence of Iran in this country, have driven the Saudis to assume a negative and opposing attitude with respect to Iran (Maitra, 2015: 38).
As far as the hostility of the Zionist regime toward Iran is concerned, it should be acknowledged that the main concern of the Zionist regime regarding Iran is the nuclear capability of the Islamic Republic and Iran’s support for Lebanon’s Hezbollah as well as other anti-Zionist militant groups would fall into second place.
2) Hezbollah
3) Hamas
4) Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt
5) Syria
6) Yemen
B) Common allies
The existence of common allies and friends also has developed a sense of alignment and evolved an unwritten coalition between Riyadh and Tel Aviv. The fact that both the Zionist regime and Saudi Arabia are strategic and main allies and friends of the United States and west as well as the European Union’s trading partners, are among the reasons for the increased alignment and cooperation between the Zionist regime and Saudi Arabia. In fact, since both countries are strategic American allies, receive American military aids and also enjoy a strong lobby in the United States, a sense of having common interest has been developed between them. Meanwhile, there are still extensive economic, political, and security relations between the European Union and the Saudis despite the European Union’s criticisms over the humanitarian situation in Saudi Arabia.
1) The United States
2) European Union
3) Turkey
The type of relations and cooperation between Saudi Arabia and the Zionist regime
In addition to analyzing the factors and reasons for the proximity and alliance of both Saudi Arabia and the Zionist regime, the cooperation fields between the two countries should be mentioned as well. There have been unofficial, secret, and short-lived relations between the Zionist regime and Saudi Arabia in some areas and fields.
Such confidential relations between Saudi Arabia and the Zionist regime have existed for many years, and although the two countries do not have embassies and official diplomatic institutions in each other’s capitals, but the absence of official diplomatic relations should not be regarded as the lack of unofficial communications and various communicational channels between the two countries. For example, in recent years, many Zionist security companies have been advising Gulf states on security issues; even such Zionist corporations are training the special forces of those countries and have provided them with advanced security systems in addition to having secret and continuous meetings with senior officials of such countries.
In addition to the unofficial political and diplomatic relations between the Zionist regime and Saudi Arabia, the increasing trade and economic relations especially in the field of energy between the two countries in recent years, should be mentioned.
Following Saudi Arabia’s anti-Iran measures, Saudi Arabia has committed to boosting its oil production that consequently would lead to a decline in oil prices, in an attempt to hit Iran’s economy. However, it should be acknowledged that Saudi Arabia’s oil supremacy and oil reserves have provided this country with the opportunity to gain dominance in the field of oil production among the OPEC countries, as well as in determining the average oil price. Saudi Arabia is utilizing these two important factors to advance its interests and oppose countries like Iran. This policy is totally in line with and supported by the Zionist regime.
The feasibility of the deepening and expansion of Saudi-Israeli relations
The extensive and deep military, security, and economic relations established between the Zionist regime and Saudi Arabia with the West, especially the United States, a mutual need to influence the governments of the West Asian region along with Saudi-Israeli security concerns about the instabilities and the potential for proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in the region, all in all, are the factors that have brought both countries closer to each other in the last few decades. (Emamzadehfard: 2011: 1)
As far as measuring the possibility of deepening and expansion of relations between Saudi Arabia and the Zionist regime is concerned, several indicators will be mentioned briefly:
Confronting Iran and its influence
Both Countries being an ally of the United States
Conclusion
In the field of international politics and relations, countries have always believed in the idea that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Also, it is widely believed that having the same enemy would lead the old enemies to establish close ties and open the way to friendship and integration.
Saudi Arabia and the Zionist regime have cooperated and close ties more than ever since they consider Iran as their common enemy and based on the balance of threat theory that was proposed by Stephen M. Walt.
It can even be argued that other Arab governments such as Egypt, Jordan and Persian Gulf states share the same concerns with the Zionist regime regarding Iran. This would make the Zionist regime, despite his conflicts and disputes with the Arab states, enter a joint coalition with such countries against Iran. Zionist regime fights against Hezbollah which favours Iran and Saudi Arabia struggles with the Houthis who are with Iran.
Saudi Arabia and the Zionist regime peruse the policy of the erosion of Iran’s power. Through provoking a crisis, they are trying to see this country being involved in different geographic areas. This is similar to the strategies that the Soviets designed for Americans in Vietnam and the United States’ policy concerning the Soviet Union in Afghanistan.
Nowadays, Saudi Arabia and the Zionist regime in coordination with American policies, seek to broaden and expand the spheres of Iran and its allies’ involvements. To that end, they focus mainly on creating and expanding proxy wars that have been spread over the West Asian region. The more such conflicts are increased and expanded the higher would be the economic and credibility costs for Iran. They aim to gradually decrease and erode the power and credibility of Iran throughout the region as it has been increased over time.
The result of such erosion will be a victory over Iran without engaging in a war; this means that the United States or the Zionist regime and Saudi Arabia will gain victory without a direct confrontation with Iran. Nonetheless, the need for a balance of threat regarding Iran will require both the Zionist regime and Saudi Arabia that in the event of any military strike against Iran by one of them, its counterpart engages in war or provides basic supplies to facilitate the battle. On the one hand, by the means of diplomatic relations, reinforcing the extremist anti-Shi’ah groups as well as petrodollars, Saudi Arabia is trying to undermine Iran’s state and non-state allies in the region. (Sa’i 2012: 125)
On the other hand, while considering Iran as a powerful threat and in line with creating the balance of threat the Zionist regime sees its interest in establishing close ties with Saudi Arabia as much as possible; A country that has never raised a serious threat to Zionism but has the potential to create a powerful coalition with this regime so that a powerful front against Iran will be created and Saudi Arabia would become the pioneer in removing the unwillingness among Arab states to institute diplomatic ties with the Zionist regime. That is why the Zionist regime is trying to introduce Iran, its main enemy, as a major threat to the Sunni Arab states especially for Saudi Arabia, and, while uniting these countries against Iran, draw their attention away from the issue of Palestine and occupation of this land.
Archive of The Enemies of the Islamic Revolution
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