Barsam Mohammadi – Regional Affairs Expert

The attack on Qatar sends a clear message to all Arab countries, especially the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Iraq, as well as Turkey, that no country in the region is safe and they are in the crosshairs of the Zionist regime’s military actions. Under no circumstances are the security or sovereignty of Arab and Islamic countries, even those with economic, political, military, and security relations with Tel Aviv, respected by this regime.

It is worth noting that Qatar established trade relations with the Zionist regime in 1996, marking the first such relationship among all countries of the Arabian Peninsula following the normalization of relations between Oman and the Zionist regime, concurrent with the peace treaty between this regime and Jordan. However, Qatar severed relations due to the Gaza war.

The Zionist regime’s attack on Qatar shows that the security situation of the Arab countries on the Persian Gulf coast, in light of the threats from the Zionist regime, faces a profound and strategic paradox. On the one hand, these countries seek to enhance their deterrent power and ensure national security by modernizing their armed forces through the acquisition of advanced weapons, primarily from the United States and European countries. On the other hand, their territorial integrity and sovereignty face the most significant and direct security and military threat from the Zionist regime, the leading U.S. ally.

The Israeli regime, by repeatedly violating the air and maritime sovereignty of the Arab countries on the Persian Gulf coast, establishing extensive espionage and intelligence networks in these countries, and assassinating their citizens and officials, has shown that it recognizes no red lines or legal rules in advancing its objectives.

On the other hand, Washington stands as the leading arms supplier for these countries. The United States, through massive arms sales contracts, has deepened these countries’ security dependence on itself. But by imposing overt and covert conditions in these contracts, it prohibits any use of these weapons against America’s primary strategic ally in the region, namely the Israeli regime.

This has created a security trap; the purchased weapons are only usable for limited scenarios and, in reality, strip these countries of their ability to defend themselves against the most important and real regional threat, which is the Zionist regime. This situation seriously undermines the national sovereignty and inherent right of these countries to self-defense, keeping them in a position of helplessness and passivity.

Consequently, the Zionist regime, knowing it will face no specific operational or political consequences from these countries, continues its aggressive behavior.

The continuation of this situation not only weakens the security of the Persian Gulf but also disrupts the regional balance of power in favor of Tel Aviv, eliminating any prospect for establishing an independent collective security order in the region.

Currently, the most important way out of this impasse is a fundamental review of these countries’ security doctrine and a move towards intra-regional security alliances outside the framework imposed by Washington. Only then can the possibility of controlling the security destiny of Arab and Islamic countries be realized, and the Zionist regime be faced with high challenges and costs for taking military action against these countries.

In summary, the Israeli regime’s attack on Qatar clearly showed that the most significant and most direct security threat to the territorial integrity of regional countries, even those with relations with Tel Aviv, is the Zionist regime. However, a significant obstacle also exists in confronting the aggressive actions and threats of the Zionist regime against Arab allies because Washington, as the leading arms supplier for these countries, will never allow the use of these weapons against its strategic ally, the Zionist regime.