New regional developments, fresh decisions and policies and new emerging relations represent the transforming nature of Middle East Policy. Changing relation between Iran and the Arab world remains one of the top rising hostilities in the region. The year-long Middle East protests and regime alterations led to further power contests across the region. As natural, at such circumstances, every nation does its best to grab the lions' share, a struggle that consequently lead to some unexpected conflicts.
With respect to Iran-Arab world, M.E. recent developments have deepened the rift in their relations. Following the democratic movements across the Arab countries, experts acknowledged Iran's glee on the occasion.
They said the Islamic Republic had obtained marvelous opportunity to expand its area of influence and add to its share in the regional politics. Iran's most critical foe in the Arab world Mubarak was ousted from power and protests continued hitting some other Middle Eastern countries. Uprisings in Yemen, Jordan, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia promised new begging for Iran. All changes came to the privilege of the Islamic Republic expect that in the Syria, Iran's only Middle Eastern Friend.
It provided Iran an unparalleled opportunity to grab more significant play in regional power politics. And this very attempt led to deepening friction in its relation with the Arab nations. Some of the Arab countries, Arab influential figures and certain western officials have frequently accused the Islamic Republic of meddling in some Arab countries' domestic affairs.
In addition to Iran's vivid ties to Hamas and Hezbollah, it is accused of increasing interference in Arab countries' internal affairs. In its height of violence period, Iraq served as bloody battlefield for proxy wars supported by Iran and certain Arab rivals. It still continues to be troubled by foreign meddling. Public protests, modeled as those in Tunisia and Egypt, began rising in heart of the Arab oil lands, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain. Fingers were pointed at Iran.
Moreover, Gulf States have complained about Iran's increasing influence in the region. Calling upon the Islamic Republic to stop illegal intrusions, the states have warned the region of deleterious consequences of the practice. A series of happenings have intensified the crisis.
In February, thousands of Bahrainis took to the streets demanding democratic reforms. Government security forces, boosted by the Saudi-led Gulf troops, brutally quashed the Shiite-led protests, infuriating Iran.
The already tense Saudi-Iranian relations took a turn for the worse when US justice officials announced in October that they had foiled an Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington.
On Tuesday, the Gulf Cooperation Council called on Iran to stop meddling in the internal affairs of the group's members. "Stop these policies and practices ... and stop interfering in the internal affairs" of the Gulf nations, said a statement released at the end of the GCC annual summit in the Saudi capital Riyadh.
In a different view of the subject, the increasing Arab wrath against Iran will effectively serve US's main objective of preventing Iran from getting access to nuclear power. Calling the accusations as baseless, Iran has usually attributed them to the western powers.