Iran’s Forward Diplomacy in Palestine Context | Daily Writeup | Opinions
The following article, “What is Iran’s Forward Diplomacy in the Context of the Palestine Issue? How will These Emerging Geopolitics of the Middle East Shape the World Order?“, is written by Laiba Shahbaz, a student of Sir Syed Kazim Ali. Moreover, the article is written on the same pattern, taught by Sir to his students, scoring the highest marks in compulsory subjects for years. Sir Kazim has uploaded his students’ solved past paper questions so other thousands of aspirants can understand how to crack a topic or question, how to write relevantly, what coherence is, and how to include and connect ideas, opinions, and suggestions to score the maximum.
Outline
1-Introduction
2-Current Situation
3-Iran’s forward diplomacy in the context of the Palestine issue
- ✓Iran has never recognized the existence of the state of Israel.
- ✓Iran has been strictly against any plan to maintain peace and harmony with Israel.
- ✓Iran wants all Palestinian refugees to stay in Palestine.
- ✓Iran also proposed holding a referendum to resolve the conflict.
- ✓Iran has been supporting and backing various armed groups or proxies throughout the region.
- ✓Iran highly criticized any attempt to maintain peaceful relations between Arab states and Israel.
- ✓Iran wants Israel to limit the conflict inside the border of its state to avoid the escalation of conflict.
4-What is the emerging geopolitics of the Middle East?
- ✓Iranian support for proxies amid the Israel-Hamas war and network of proxies
- According to the US State Department, Iran has been providing 100$ million annually to Hamas and other Palestinian groups. Iran was the first state to praise the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023.
- ✓Israel’s aggression and fear of escalation of war
- According to Asharq Al-Awsat, an Arab news agency, Israel attacked an Iranian consulate in Syria, which killed eight Iranians, including two of its top IRGC commanders.
- ✓Normalization of Arab’s ties with Israel, apparently, halted
- According to Aljazeera, at the Cairo Peace Summit, Jordan’s King Abdullah II signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, strictly condemning the policies of Israel. Similarly, during the UNSC session, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt openly condemned Israel.
5-How will these emerging geopolitics of the Middle East shape the world order?
- ✓Emergence of a multipolar world
- Professor John Mearsheimer said that because of its self-destructive nature, the international liberal order is destroying.
- ✓Rise in Chinese and Russian involvement in the region
- According to data provided by tanker trackers Kpler and Vortexa, in the first nine months of 2023, China shipped a record 2.765 million barrels of crude a day from Russia, Iran, and Venezuela.
- The French President Emmanuel Macron said, “A new power (Russia) would emerge if we stop supporting Ukraine.”
- ✓The tiring US and its long list of failures in the Middle East
- According to Hasht e Subh Daily, “Due to wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, intervention on Middle Eastern conflicts, and now a supporter of Palestinian massacre with a financial cost, proves that international order is self-destroying itself.”
6-Critical analysis
7-Conclusion
Answer to the question
Introduction
International world order consists of different players; how the players play the game would decide the rules of the order. Realists say every player or state is selfish and prefers to achieve its objectives first. This realist perception of state behaviours could be easily observed in real life. For example, the United States, as a single hegemon in a unipolar world, devised world rules, created institutions, and even destroyed several states in the third world. Today, the unipolar nature of the world is changing as various regional powers are rising. In the Middle East, Iran and Israel have been the strongest regional powers, and both are indulging in an indirect war. Regional dynamics are changing, which is affecting the world order overall. This question would analyze Iran’s forward diplomacy towards Israel, changing regional dynamics, and how they impact global order.
Current Situation
Currently, Gaza has been going through a brutal war with Israel. On October 7, Hamas attacked Israel and killed thousands of Israelis. As a result, a never-ending war erupted; Israel attacked the whole of Gaza. According to Aljazeera, in eight months of the war, more than thirty-five thousand Palestinians have been killed, and more than seventy-seven thousand are injured in Gaza by Israel. Also, millions of them have been displaced. None of the Muslim states, especially Arabs, send any help to Palestinians; conversely, these states arrest and punish those who support Palestinians. According to the New Arab, recently, Saudi Arabia has been detaining persons because of posting on social media for the support of Palestine. On the other side, immediate neighbouring states of Gaza, Egypt, and Jordan are reluctant to help Palestinian people as they have been the constant victims of Israeli attacks. Similarly, Syria, because of a long war, has been reconstructing itself and is unable to take any steps for Palestine. While Israel attacked the Iranian embassy in Syria as Iran has been the only state, which openly supports Hamas, along with Qatar and Turkey. Still brutal wars with Israel and the cold behavior of Muslim states have been unable to harm the courage and resilience of the Palestinian people.
Iran’s forward diplomacy in the context of the Palestine issue
Although no official document exists regarding Iran’s foreign policy toward the Israel-Palestine conflict, the following points can be deduced about its forward diplomacy towards the conflict after analyzing Iran’s behaviours.
- ✓Iran has never recognized the existence of the state of Israel in the Middle East region.
- ✓Iran has been strictly against any plan to maintain peace and harmony with Israel.
- ✓Iran wants all Palestinian refugees to stay in the pre-1948 borders of Palestine so that they can work on a solution to strengthen their hold on their own land.
- ✓Iran also proposed a solution for the Israel-Palestine conflict, which is the holding of a referendum. Iran wants all native residents of Palestine, regardless of their religion, to conduct and participate in the referendum and decide and establish their own political system. No other state in the world supported this plan.
- ✓Iran has been supporting and backing various armed groups or proxies, such as Hamas, Hezbollah or Houthis, throughout the region to deter and, often, fight with Israel.
- ✓Iran highly criticized any attempt to maintain peaceful relations between Arab states and Israel.
- ✓Iran wants Israel to limit the conflict inside the border of its states and not interfere in Jordan or Syria because it could escalate the conflicts into a regional war.
What is the emerging geopolitics of the Middle East?
- ✓Iranian support for proxies amid the Israel-Hamas war and network of proxies
Iran has emerged as a geopolitics player in the emerging Middle East. There are various reasons behind the strong foothold of Iran on the Middle Eastern ground; the most important one is the complex and interconnected network of proxies. To support its proxies, Iran exports weapons, i.e., rockets or missiles, to Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis and several others. For example, According to the reports of the US Department, Iran has exported thousands of rockets, small arms and missiles out of the state since 2006. Also, According to the US State Department, Iran has been providing 100$ million annually to Hamas and other Palestinian groups. Iran was the first state to praise the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023. Not only Iran, there is a continuing trade of weapons between proxies and proxy and other states. Middle East Institute’s report on the regional activities of Hezbollah explores that Hezbollah provides military support and thousands of fighters to Syria, Iraq and Yemen. It has a strong relationship with Hamas, and together, both threaten Israel. Israel has been the main enemy of Iran and, therefore, tried its best to counter it. Contrarily, Israel has constantly been threatened by Iran, mainly due to its nuclear status. According to the representative of the United Nations, Iran was a collaborator in the Hamas attack on October 7 as it provided training and funding to the military wing of Hamas. With it, Iran also avoids getting into a direct war with Israel. Thus, it shows how the Iranian military supported different proxy groups to achieve their aims and to threaten their enemies, especially Israel in the whole region.
- ✓Israel’s aggression and fear of escalation of war
Moreover, Israel, to eliminate and evacuate Hamas, which controls Gaza, launched attacks on their hubs not only inside its state but in the neighbouring states too. According to Asharq Al-Awsat, an Arab news agency, Israel attacked an Iranian consulate in Syria, which killed eight Iranians, including two of its top IRGC commanders. The Israel-Hamas war has become the primary source of instability in the whole region. With the weak resistance of Palestinians, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen have launched careful attacks on Israel. Iran has been the central orchestrator of these attacks, as its proxies are stationed in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen. According to France 24, armed forces in Yemen have confirmed that they will continue to strike Israel with drones and missiles until Israel ceases aggression. Similarly, the prime minister of Houthis, Abdelaziz bin Habtour, said, “Rebels are part of the Axis of resistance against Israel, which includes groups in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon backed by Iran. For all such operations, there is proper coordination between all groups, with joint commands and collaborative operation rooms.” Similarly, According to Aljazeera, Hezbollah from Lebanon, another part of the Axis, has been launching various drones and rockets since the war started on October 7. Soon after the Hamas attack, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime minister, said by the time when it was over, he would turn north, where Hezbollah grounded, and would transform the Middle East. A retired Lebanese army brigadier general and security analyst, Tannous Moawad, said Israel has been preparing for a long war with Iran and its proxies that could erupt any time and reshape the whole Middle East. Hence, Iran-backed groups in various states are resisting Israeli aggression, which could easily turn a conflict into a regional disaster.
- ✓Normalization of Arab’s ties with Israel, apparently, halted.
In the abruptly changing environment of the Middle East, along with Iran’s violent resistance and Israel’s aggression, another significant change was appearing, which was the normalization of Arab relations with Israel. During the Trump era, the Abraham Accord was formalized, which normalized the ties between Israel and Arabs, especially the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Soon, Saudi Arabia was to be joined. However, public opinion pressurized many Arab states to tilt their behaviours towards Israel to attain political stability. According to the New Arab, recently, Saudi Arabia has been detaining persons because of posting on social media for the support of Palestine, but public anger could not quickly calm down. According to the European Council on Foreign Relations, Riyadh has been trying its best to stop Turkey and Iran from claiming leadership of the Palestinian issue. Such scenarios stop it from maintaining better relations with Israel. Similarly, the UAE also engaged with Syria, Iran, and Israel to calm the warming environment. According to Aljazeera, at the Cairo Peace Summit, Jordan’s King Abdullah II signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, strictly condemning the policies of Israel. Similarly, during the UNSC session, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt openly denounced Israel. Thus, the Israeli-Palestine conflict has halted the long-term efforts made by the US and Israel to normalize their relations with Arabs.
How will these emerging geopolitics of the Middle East shape the world order?
- ✓Emergence of a multipolar world
The international order is changing. Any event on the international ground could shift this order completely. The ongoing Israel-Gaza war and the Russia-Ukraine conflict have been significantly changing the dynamics of the global order. As Professor John Mearsheimer said, because of its self-destructive nature, the international liberal order is destroying. Several states want a multipolar system. As the unipolar system is weakening, the disorder in the world is quite visible because several states feel freedom to take actions of their choice. For example, Iran has been a significant opponent of the Western liberal global order. If the rules of the order are weakened, sanctions on Iran will be eased, and it will have opportunities to develop relations with China and Russia. The prevailing global order has restricted China and Russia’s ambitions in their own regions. As it started collapsing, Russia began a war in Ukraine, and China tightened its policies in the case of Taiwan. According to International Politik Quarterly, although both events, the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel-Gaza war, are very different from each other, both are still interlinked through a hidden network of pipes. Both show a struggle for the same thing; a new global order. Thus, it is visible that global rules led by a single hegemon are weakening, giving space to others for their rise.
- ✓Rise in Chinese and Russian involvement in the region
In an evolving international environment, new players are strengthening their muscles; China and Russia have been actively emerging as leading players. According to data provided by tanker trackers Kpler and Vortexa, in the first nine months of 2023, China shipped a record 2.765 million barrels of crude daily from Russia, Iran, and Venezuela. Similarly, despite sanctions and with the whole world in opposition, Russia attacked Ukraine. As Emmanuel Macron said, French President Emmanuel Macron said, “A new power (Russia) would emerge if we stop supporting Ukraine.” In the case of the Middle East, both China and Russia took the US’s bloody policies and the weakening of Arab alliances with the US and Israel as an opportunity. The US has always been associated with a conflict or a war in this region, such as the Iran-Iraq war, the Gulf war, the Iraq war, the War on Terror, the Syrian civil war, and now the Israel-Gaza war. This changed the perceptions of Muslims; they view China and Russia more positively as compared to the US. Unlike the US, China and Russia have been helping them to strengthen through various projects and programs. As a result, new avenues of progress and development are opening for China, Russia, and the Middle East.
- ✓The tiring US and its long list of failures in the Middle East
The US has created the prevailing world order; with constant failures and wars, this order is on the verge of collapse. According to Hasht e Subh Daily, “due to wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, intervention on Middle Eastern conflicts, and now a supporter of Palestinian massacre with financial cost, proves that international order is self-destroying itself.” To deal with this, the Biden administration tried to minimize its every kind of involvement in the region and supported the normalization of relations between Israel and Arab states. Moreover, the US started an India-Middle East-Europeeconomic corridor to counter the Chinese influence. This corridor has two parts: eastern (India to Gulf States) and western (Gulf States to Europe via Israel and Jordan). Israel and the Gaza war thwarted the future of this project. Additionally, before the war, the US decreased its military presence in the region, but owing to the Israel and Palestine conflict, the US poured its most significant military buildup since its war on the Islamic State on Iraq and Levant (ISIL). According to Al-Jazeera, the US has employed 100 aircraft, submarines armed with Tomahawk missiles, and cruisers, and gave the reason that it used this to counter the opening of a third war front against Israel. Moreover, the US and Iran have been indulging in military skirmishes. As a result, it shows that the US could be dragged into another regional conflict that could suffer more.
Critical Analysis
Critically, the 1979 revolution turned every policy of Iran to one eighty degrees. Ayatollahs’ of Iran have been against the existence of Israel and the policies of America, and they named them as shaitan. Moreover, due to Israel’s aggressive and violent policies and various attempts to contain and threaten Iran, the state adopted a diplomacy, which does not accept any place named as Israel in the Middle East. Iran, to counter the threats from its enemies, has made an interconnected network of proxies. During the ongoing Israel-Gaza war, Iran has been supporting Hamas financially and militarily. This continued enmity between Iran and Israel, with the presence of the Israel-Palestine conflict, has been adding up to the instability of the whole region. Globally, the weakening of the United States has allowed several states to rise for their goals. Also, owing to the weak perception of the United States among Muslims, China and Russia have several opportunities for economic growth in different regions. Lastly, the geo-economic of the Middle East revolves around devastating states, conflicts, wars, declining economies, atrocities, terrorism, authoritarian regimes, and foreign interventions.
Conclusion
The emerging geopolitics of the Middle East is characterized by powerful Iran, an interconnected network of proxies, Israel’s aggressive policies, and the dilemma of Arab-Israeli relations. The region has a huge influence on the changing global order. The United States and its failure associated with Middle Eastern states have cleared a path for other growing powers to grow and catch opportunities. Thus, a new world is soon going to be a multipolar world.
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