The brewing tussle between Iran and Saudi Arabia once again threatens to drag an unwilling Pakistan back into the muck of sectarianism. The conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia is not new, and the world at large, but Pakistan especially, has suffered at the hands of the two rival countries’ religious, ideological and political quest for dominance ever since 1979. Much like in the Cold War, the weapon of choice for both countries has been propping up proxies and funding ideological propaganda in other Muslim-majority countries to the detriment of the sectarian harmony and stability of the region. But Iran, by virtue of being an international pariah for most of the past three and a half decades, has lost out to its rival Saudi Arabia in terms of influence and powerful alliances. So for Iran to not only start to become reintegrated and rehabilitated in the international arena, but also acquire an important voice in the future direction of Syria (a country ravaged by the Wahhabiist interventions of Saudi Arabia) was never going to sit well with the Saudi regime. So we can chart a trend of recent Saudi activities that were clearly designed to provoke Iran and divide the Muslim states on sectarian grounds, including but not limited to bombing Yemen to combat the Shiite Houthi rebels and forming a 34-country strong ‘anti-terrorism’ alliance of its own accord and leaving out Iran, Iraq and Syria on sectarian considerations. Hitherto however, Pakistan has been able to strike a careful balance between not antagonising Saudi Arabia and maintaining cordial ties with Iran. Given the long and torturous history of Pakistan’s sectarian conflict, this has been an eminently sensible stance.
But the Saudi government relentlessly keeps on pushing and with the unjust execution of the prominent Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr, it has finally been successful in exacerbating the sectarian tussle by provoking Iran and the region’s Shias. Due to enraged Iranian citizens storming the Saudi Embassy in Tehran, and given the clout the oil rich Saudi Arabia has internationally, the condemnation for Iran has been swift by Saudi allies and the instigating event (i.e. the cleric’s execution) is being brushed under the carpet. The western allies of Saudi Arabia are struggling to keep this crisis from burgeoning as appeals for restraint are falling on deaf ears. The implications of this turn of events are frighteningly clear: the Syrian conflict, which was cautiously projected to be heading towards a resolution, may yet become prolonged indefinitely. But closer to home, this tussle threatens to divide the population along sectarian grounds and harm Pakistan’s potentially beneficial relations with neighbouring Iran. In light of this, for the Pakistani government to maintain a neutral stance is perhaps the wisest course of action. The vilification of Sartaj Aziz in parliament by opposition leaders for not showing diplomatic “leadership” is therefore uncalled for. By not picking a side, we can avoid falling into this messy trap and perhaps even play a critical mediatory role in the future. http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/editorial/07-Jan-2016/pakistan-s-pickle
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