Amid rising regional tensions, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al
Saud invited Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and League of Arab States (LAS) leaders
for emergency summits in the holy city of Mecca on May 30, to discuss recent
“aggressions and their consequences.”
Inasmuch as the Kingdom’s policies were first established by
King Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman—to coordinate strategies and courses of action
with Arab and Muslim allies before confronting challenges that threaten common
concerns—the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques revealed how Riyadh intended to
address the latest Iranian attacks on Arab interests. He spoke with
determination and emulated the founder’s paradigm both to ascertain Riyadh’s
will-to-power as well as defy potential foes.
Moreover, rather than embark on half-measures, the monarch
wishes to consult with his partners as to the best approaches to enhance
regional security and stability, in the aftermath of raids against oil
installations inside the Kingdom and commercial ships off the coast of the UAE.
These offensives—including drone strikes by Yemeni Houthi
rebels on a Saudi oil pipeline and the synchronized sabotage of four ships off
the coast of the UAE —would have required sophisticated preparations
necessitating innate military capabilities. Notwithstanding Iran’s denials of
responsibility, the assaults demonstrated Tehran’s recklessness, since it was
eminently conscious that any strike on oil facilities would trigger universal
condemnation and, as necessary, coordinated reactions.
In the past, Iran has threatened to block shipping in the
Straits of Hormuz, though fear of a global military clash prevented it from
carrying out such ill-placed acts of daring. Still, few doubt that the attacks
on Saudi oil installations were Iran’s reactions to the last American-imposed
economic sanctions on Tehran, which strangulated the regime and pushed it to
take irresponsible steps.
Such moves threaten to drag the region into a new war. As
calls for combat gather momentum, King Salman’s offers to discuss sorely needed
initiatives to address Iranian interferences in the affairs of the Arab world
stand as the ultimate attempt to avoid catastrophe. Consequently, we can assume
that the summits will witness frank discussions among allies, precisely to
respond in a coordinated fashion to these interferences. The monarch’s approach
stands out for its location too, as there is no better place on earth to hold
such discussions than in the holy city of Mecca, just a few days before Eid
al-Fitr 2019 dawns on the Muslim world.
Of course, while summit leaders are likely to discuss how
best to avoid a war, King Salman is equally determined to defend Saudi and Arab
interests amid increasing tensions between the US and Iran. In fact, while US
President Donald Trump repeated that he was not looking to start a war with
Tehran, and while Iranian leaders also dismissed the possibility of war, Riyadh
reaffirmed its readiness to defend itself and its interests with all force and
determination if Tehran chose warfare.
As the May 30 GCC and LAS gatherings will be followed on May
31 by the 14th Ordinary Session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation
(OIC) under the theme “Mecca al-Mukarramah Summit: Hand in Hand toward the
Future,” it is reasonable to anticipate what might be agreed upon in the
57-nation body. The expected “Mecca Declaration,” along with the Final
Communiqué of the OIC, will likely address many current issues that preoccupy
the Muslim world.
These include the latest developments in Palestine, the
plight of the Rohingya refugee crisis in Myanmar, the growing phenomenon of
Islamophobia across the globe, the need to counter terrorism and violent extremism,
and a slew of other political, economic, cultural, and social concerns.
Yet what must stand above most of these matters are the
questions of security and stability, along with the need to develop unified
stances on ongoing developments that affect the Arab and Muslim worlds.
It may thus be fair to surmise that King Salman’s May 30
conclaves aim to find practical solutions to ongoing dilemmas and, towards that
end, aspire to resolve critical differences with Gulf, Arab, and Muslim
interlocutors. Such summits present golden opportunities to close ranks,
coordinate efforts, and preserve the welfare of our nation as we all prepare to
celebrate the end of Ramadan.