Ex-senior diplomat proposes three steps to settle Mideast crises

Ex-senior diplomat proposes three steps to settle Mideast crises Mousavian says Iran feels threatened by export of Wahhabism Hossein Mousavian, former Iranian diplomat and a current Princeton University researcher, has elaborated on root causes of crises and instability in the Middle East. Addressing a recent conference on challenges of security arrangements in the Middle East in Beirut, Mousavian proposed three “major diplomatic innovations” to alleviate regional crises and foster long-lasting regional cooperation and peace. The two-day conference, which brought together about 200 experts on political and security affairs, was arranged by former Lebanese President Amin Gemayel. Following is the full text of Mousavian’s speech in the conference: Much of West Asia today is in a state of chaos and conflict. Large parts of Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Afghanistan are devastated. The on-going wars in Yemen, Libya and Syria have taken huge humanitarian tolls. Political solutions to the current crises are still uncertain, even though there is no military solution for any conflict. Many terrorist groups are still active throughout the region and pose a major threat to all regional and global powers. Instability in the Middle East continues to decisively impact international peace and security. The region is in the midst of two interconnected conflicts: one between regional powers, and the other between global powers. The chief outside players are the United States and Russia. Moscow’s intervention in Syria together with Iranian support has changed the balance of power in the conflict. Meanwhile, disputes between regional powers have reached an unprecedented level of hostility, as seen in Saudi, Emirati, and Israeli rhetoric, actions, and alliances against Iran. The roots of instability and conflict in the Middle East today go back decades. There have been three major sources contributing to regional instability. The first is the full and unconditional support the United States and other world powers have provided to corrupt dictators such as the Shah of Iran or Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, and numerous other dictators in the Arab and Muslim world. These dictators have presided over conditions of poverty, unemployment, bad governance, and political suffocation—which all contribute to extremism and terrorism. Mousavian says regional states have two options: Cooperation or the status quo of confrontation The second root cause is because Washington has given carte blanc support to Israel as it has conquered, occupied, and annexed Arab land in violation of international law. The third cause of regional instability are the wars that have engulfed the region. In this regard, the first mistake of the United States, its Arab allies and other major global powers was supporting Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein during the Iraq’s invasion of Iran—including the use of chemical weapons that killed tens of thousands of Iranians. Their support of attacking Iran backfired with Saddam’s invasion of Kuwait. The second major mistake of the United States and its allies were the post-September 11th invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, which unleashed chaos and violence in large parts of the region. The U.S. invasion of Iraq led to the rise of ISIS and other brutal terrorist groups that the United Nations has said are top threats to global security. In Afghanistan, after 17 years of U.S. occupation, the Taliban remain in control of vast parts of the country.