TEHRAN- With the end of Washington’s policy of focusing on West Asia, which for the first time was demonstrated by a resumption of ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia, is expected to bring about great changes in the future. 

Up until now West Asia was a battle scene between the U.S. and Iran which has been trying to put an end to Washington’s dominance. But now that the fight is somehow coming to a conclusion, West Asia is turning into a field where regional powers try to display their influence and gain control. 

In this regard Iran, as one of the pillars of the new world order, is trying to move forward with its key policies which include numerous efforts to make the region get rid of the Zionist regime. In the years following Iran’s Islamic revolution, particularly during the 2010s when the Arab spring was taking place, Tehran was able to gain and maintain great influence in countries like Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.

Iran’s previous efforts at solidifying its regional influence has made Israel worried so that it may try to expand its presence and gain meaningful influence in more West Asian countries. For instance, Eric R. Mandel, who is the director of MEPIN (Middle East Political Information Network), wrote an op-ed on The Hill warning that Iran’s next target could be Jordan. Mandel has warned that a strong Iranian presence in the Arab country is probable due to the grave economic concerns in Jordan and the deep-rooted anti-Semitism there. Mandel believes such situation would be extremely harmful for the U.S. which counts Jordan as its ally.

The op-ed also points to Iran’s efforts to encircle Israel, saying Iran is expected to try to “create chaos and instability in Jordan to prepare for the rise of a Tehran-affiliated government”. It also warns that the U.S. must provide Jordan with financial aid to stop Iran, saying the Arab country is of great significance for the security of the Israeli regime. 

What’s been published on The Hill seems to have been written in an unrealistic manner as it has disregarded some of the most important facts about the nature of Iran’s relations with regional countries. We will try to elaborate on the truth of the matter in this article. 
 

Iran’s influence is ideological 

Contrary to the U.S. which has disastrously spent billions of dollars to topple governments in other countries and replace them with American-led “democratic” ones, Iran only tries to increase its influence in other countries by pitching anti-imperialistic ideas. Most famously the U.S. tried to deploy a so-called democratic state in Afghanistan but there was so much corruption and incompetence inside the government that it got overthrown by the Taliban in less than two weeks. The U.S. created a similar situation in Iraq. When attacked by Daesh, the Iraqi government could not stand a chance against the terror group that was being backed by some of the regional Arab countries. It was the resistance forces that managed to defeat Daesh and prevent a potential fall of Baghdad.

In fact, current situations in the countries where Iran has succeeded to gain great influence, are indicative of Tehran’s policies in West Asia. Iran exerts it power through certain groups like Ansarullah in Yemen, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hashd al-Shaabi in Iraq. All these groups have become allies of Iran through ideological connections and anti-imperialistic values.  

In Jordan too, the existence of tens of thousands of Palestinian refugees who have deeply-rooted anti-imperialistic tendencies can help Iran become closer with the country. The expansion of such ideas in any other country in the region will eventually bring that nation closer to Tehran. That’s because Iran has been the main force of resistance against imperialism in the past decades.

Iran seeks stability
 

The report by The Hill, like many other reports of the same kind, tries to paint Iran as the main cause of instability in the region. Media outlets that take such approach usually belong to two groups. The first are usually affiliated with Arab countries that are in a competition with Iran to dominate West Asia. These entities try to portray Iran’s dominant position as the source of instability and chaos in the region.
 

The second group are media outlets which work in accordance with the interests of Israel and the U.S. They - rightfully so - consider Iran’s regional prominence a threat to Tel Aviv and Washington. This is while any form of instability in West Asia lies on the shoulders of the Israeli regime and its destructive activities. Another important point is that the stability in the region is of existential significance to Iran. Therefore we can say that despite Washington’s repeated claims, Iran’s interests are in line with security in West Asia. Iran will only prosper if the situation is not tense in the region and that’s why the country pours all its efforts into making sure that peace can be established. Tehran has come up with peace plans that ended up getting rejected by Arab countries numerous times. 

Israel’s fear holds water

Jordan is considered to be an important country. It shares borders with both Iraq and Syria where Iran holds significance influence. Also Jordan neighbors the occupied West Bank which Iran is seeking to arm against Israel. That’s why Israel and the U.S. have always done a great deal to keep Jordan in their orbit. That the Arab country is forging closer ties with Iran spells disaster for both Washington and Tel Aviv. Such circumstances would vastly change the dynamics in West Asia in a way that would benefit the Islamic republic. 

The U.S. has so far tried to win Jordan’s heart by offering various financial aid packages and facilitating Amman’s political and economic agreements with other countries. As we mentioned before Iran does not resort to money to get closer to other countries and instead tries to establish ideological ties. The highly probable absence of the U.S. in the future of West Asia and the deep economic woes of Jordan means the country might have no option but to grow closer with regional countries, including Iran. 

This is why in the past two years, Jordanian media has been trying to let its people know that Amman and Tehran might decide to ease tensions soon. After a phone call between the foreign ministers of the two countries this year, many are guessing that the day might come sooner than expected. The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) published a related report in April of 2023 pointing out how Jordan is increasingly promoting an anti-Israeli rhetoric while growing closer to Iran.

MHA/PA