The earth has for decades remained shaky in the Middle East, as the two regional powers that together provide the world most of its oil, Saudi Arabia and Iran, engaged in what till now has essentially been a proxy war, involving a fierce rivalry rooted in a quest for influence and also tied in to the ancient schism between Sunni and Shia Islam. But it appears things just took a turn for the worse with Riyadh severing diplomatic ties with Tehran on Sunday and giving Iran’s diplomats two days to leave the country. The move, its repercussions already being felt across the Gulf and indeed much further afield, follows 47 executions carried out in Saudi Arabia of men found guilty of involvement in terrorism. Of these beheadings the one which caused the major tremor, the jolts from which continue to be felt, was that of leading Saudi Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr who had in 2012 been arrested from the town of Qatif in the Shia-majority Eastern Province and in October 2014 sentenced to death on charges that his family was abetting foreign powers. The trial was held behind closed doors – a factor that has added to criticism from international human rights organisations.
Tehran’s response came swiftly and dramatically, as the Saudi Embassy there was pelted with Molotov cocktails and grenades. In what experts term an unexpectedly harsh response, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei spoke of ‘divine revenge’. Both nations have been engaged in the wars raging in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen and Bahrain on opposite sides of sectarian divides. What we now have is a direct exchange of punches. The scenario is not exactly a pleasant one, for the Muslim world or the rest of the globe. The violence is already spreading, with a rocket attack staged on the Saudi Embassy in Baghdad, recently reopened after having been closed down in 1990. There has been a broader fallout as well, with crude oil prices rising by three percent in the early hours of trading on Monday in Asia. This will affect us, as will the rest of the fallout from what could turn into a colossal disaster. This new crisis could inflict fearful damage, notably at a time when sectarian tensions are already tearing Muslims apart. We have seen this in our own country as well as in other places. Diplomatically too Pakistan looks down a road strewn with mines. Like other Muslim countries it must act. It is unfortunate that action did not come sooner from the OIC and other bodies. But now there is no time to lose. Already, Sudan and Bahrain have announced they are severing ties with Iran, and the UAE has said it will ‘downgrade’ diplomatic ties with Iran. The seams of a torn Muslim world must be pulled together. The concept of an Ummah must be re-ignited and further damage prevented through urgent peace-making measures. Who will do this is a big question but Pakistan must play whatever positive role it can.http://www.thenews.com.pk/print/86446-Islamic-State-in-2016
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