Kuala Lumpur Summit gives Iran new cards to maneuver

Muhammad Shaat

The Kuala Lumpur Summit in Malaysia has given Iran new cards to play in an attempt to improve its image at a time when Iran is suffering from international isolation, the collapse of its external relations, and changing international attitudes towards it because of its terrorist militias, its constant threat to international navigation, and its failure to deal with the predicament of US sanctions, in addition to the rising awareness among Arab peoples of Iran’s subversive role and their demanding an end to Tehran’s influence in these countries.

Iran’s image

Iran has been living in international isolation due to the Arab and international positions against it because of its hostile policies and behavior towards the region’s countries, which put it in a quandary, especially in front of its supporters who have started to feel the decline of Iran’s influence. So at a time when it has failed to manage its foreign relations with Western countries, Tehran has instead chosen to condemn the West for Iran’s own destructive behavior towards the countries of the world and its suppression of the wave of recent popular protests that started on November 15.

The Kuala Lumpur Summit, which carries an Islamic shroud and appears as a new bloc that seeks to give a role to countries whose role is diminishing after their destabilizing projects in the region have been exposed, namely Qatar, Turkey and Iran. Tehran considered it an opportunity to restore its external relationships and preserve its image, as well as a new opportunity to export its slogans of confronting world powers.

Iran has also benefited from appearing as a party to a new international alliance that may have influence and influence in many of the region’s issues even if this was not true, but Tehran knows very well how to benefit from such events and harness its media machine to magnify it, exaggerate its role, and portray its leadership as able at any time to build new alliances and face any international measures taken against it.

Distorting the sanctions

The recent US sanctions against Iran have represented a major predicament that cast a shadow over all aspects of life in the country. Popular discontent against the regime and its policies increased. Despite officials’ efforts to minimize the impact of the sanctions, they have since acknowledged that the country is experiencing unprecedented pressure and that the current crisis may be the most difficult since the eight-year war between Iraq and Iran from 1980-1988.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad stressed that his country strongly criticizes the illegal sanctions that violate UN laws, adding, “We are confident that Iran will be able to pave the way in breaching the American and European pressure. We need to recall the Iranian experience in managing foreign pressure.”

Penetrating the Sunni world

One of the most important pillars of the Iranian project is the establishment of the Shiite Crescent. In order to achieve this goal, Iran used the Shiite doctrine to achieve its political aims and worked to expand through sectarian loyalty, which of course led to a clash with the Sunni world.

Despite Iran’s declared hostility toward the Sunni world, its emergence in a new bloc that includes Sunni forces provides it a new opportunity to penetrate the Sunni world under the cover of slogans raised at the summit, which included searching for solutions to the crises of the Muslim Ummah. Tehran has generally been good at utilizing this issue, but this time it is supported by an alliance that carries an Islamic cover, and so the summit provides Iran many cards that can help it sabotage the region and dismantle the Ummah.