Great Prophet V: A Lesson Learnt from History
By Hossein Alae’i
“Iran’s military maneuvers in the Persian Gulf are not a threat to the region,” General Abdul Rahim Ibrahim Hassan Ali, head of a Qatari military entourage invited by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) to observe the Great Prophet V maneuver launched on April 22 (and which ended April 25), was quoted as saying during his presence at the exercise. And the maneuver bore the message of peace, friendship and security for the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iranian officials.
But have the other regional states received this message? Among all the formally invited Persian Gulf littoral states, Qatar was the only country that accepted Iran’s invitation to observe the maneuver. Once again, Iran has taken a trust-building step towards Arab states of the Persian Gulf region, which nonetheless seem to savor Iran’s demonization. Qatar, which has come out from under the shadow of big brother Saudi Arabia and tries to play a more independent role on the world stage, has at least made attempts to show that it has received Iran’s message.
The maneuver pursued dual objectives: a response to Obama’s threat to use military force against Iran, and the sending of a message to neighboring Arab states that Iran’s military capabilities are for self-defense and are not an attempt to target any regional state. Iran’s strategic goal is, after all, to establish close ties with neighboring Muslim states.
The Arab countries’ concerns about Iran would be rendered irrelevant if they too, like Iran, had learned from history: Saddam’s dream of a three-day conquest of Iran in 1980 came about only when Tehran showed no signs of military preparedness against his threats. The recent military maneuver was simply another effort by Iran to forestall any possibility of the use of military force against the nation. At this point in time, Tehran’s preventive military maneuver was precisely the right move. Hossein Alae’i is military expert and Middle East affairs analyst.
But have the other regional states received this message? Among all the formally invited Persian Gulf littoral states, Qatar was the only country that accepted Iran’s invitation to observe the maneuver. Once again, Iran has taken a trust-building step towards Arab states of the Persian Gulf region, which nonetheless seem to savor Iran’s demonization. Qatar, which has come out from under the shadow of big brother Saudi Arabia and tries to play a more independent role on the world stage, has at least made attempts to show that it has received Iran’s message.
The maneuver pursued dual objectives: a response to Obama’s threat to use military force against Iran, and the sending of a message to neighboring Arab states that Iran’s military capabilities are for self-defense and are not an attempt to target any regional state. Iran’s strategic goal is, after all, to establish close ties with neighboring Muslim states.
The Arab countries’ concerns about Iran would be rendered irrelevant if they too, like Iran, had learned from history: Saddam’s dream of a three-day conquest of Iran in 1980 came about only when Tehran showed no signs of military preparedness against his threats. The recent military maneuver was simply another effort by Iran to forestall any possibility of the use of military force against the nation. At this point in time, Tehran’s preventive military maneuver was precisely the right move. Hossein Alae’i is military expert and Middle East affairs analyst.