In his May 15, 2019 column in the Saudi English-language Arab News, Dr. Hamdan Al-Shehri, a political analyst and researcher of international relations, called for international action against Iran in response to the May 13 sabotage of Saudi oil tankers off the UAE coast and the May 14 attack on a Saudi oil pipeline. These incidents, he wrote, prove that Iran is bent on using the militias under its control to threaten the security of the region and the entire world. Hence, listing these militias as terror organizations, which several countries have already done, is not enough. Instead, there is need for serious and concrete action against them and against the Iranian regime itself, which is funding, recruiting and training terrorists in the region. If this is not done, Al-Shehri stressed, chaos and terror will reign everywhere and preventing nuclear proliferation in the region will become very difficult.
The following is his column, as it appeared in Arab News:[1]
Dr. Hamdan Al-Shehri (source: Arab News, Saudi Arabia)
"Iran is continuing its terrorist activities, and is carrying them out by sea, sky and land against targets in Gulf countries. Two days ago, Saudi oil tankers were attacked off the coast of the UAE. On Tuesday, oil pipelines in Saudi Arabia were attacked by armed drones.
"Tehran is showing its real face by undermining stability in the region. It is demonstrating that it can use its terrorist militias in the region to implement its nefarious designs. The two incidents have sent a message to the whole world that Iran is out to destroy regional security and stability. By undermining regional security, Iran has become a threat to international security as well.
"The drone attack on oil pipelines and the sabotage of four vessels, including two Saudi tankers, are aimed directly at threatening global oil supplies. This should force the international community to stand against these terrorist attacks and make joint efforts to condemn and punish the perpetrators of these acts. Now is the time for real, concrete and serious actions against Iran and its militias.
"These attacks prove that it is important to face terrorist entities, including the Houthis in Yemen, who are 100 percent backed by Iran. Saudi Arabia is encountering one of the worst kinds of terror in the region from organizations such as Daesh, Al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and militias in Iraq and Syria — most of them aligned with Tehran.
"Most of these organizations are a product of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). They have been classified by world organizations and key members of the international community as terrorist entities.
However, is it enough to merely list them as terrorist organizations? Is it not incumbent on the international community to prevent them from sabotaging international interests and the global economy? It is time to put an end to this regime in Tehran, which is funding, recruiting, training and hosting all terrorists in the region.
"Why is the world keeping silent and giving in to Iranian blackmail? If there is no real deterrence against this regime, the whole region will be in chaos. Terror will be everywhere. Preventing nuclear proliferation will become extremely difficult. Nobody is calling for war, but there is a serious need for real action to dismantle Iran-backed militias in the region and force Tehran to change its malign behavior."
[1] Arab News (Saudi Arabia), May 15, 2019.
