The call that shook the Middle East

We were waiting for the US to go ahead with its “punitive” strikes against Assad’s regime for gassing innocent people to death but Obama’s U-turn hit his allies hard instead. After a telephonic conversation — termed by many as political flirtation — with US President Barack Obama, Iranian President Hassan Rowhani wasted no time in declaring himself triumphant and was received as a victor back home.
This development has surprised many who were anticipating a rain of Tomahawk missiles to discipline the Syrian regime and to send Tehran — reportedly developing nuclear weapons — a strong message that could have acted as a deterrent.
The Obama-Rowhani call also shook decision makers in Gulf, Jordan, Turkey, Israel and others. What on earth is happening? Rowhani claims Obama was the one who took the initiative. Once when he was preparing to check out from the hotel in New York and the second time when his motorcade was heading for the airport. On the other hand, the White House says Iranian delegation had asked that Rowhani wanted to speak to Obama.
Anyway, it is insignificant who took the initiative. The issue at hand is as to what factors convinced Obama to reward the Iranians by breaking the historical silence. The question that worries this region’s governments is what are the motives of the call and how deep the relationship is?
It is a well-known fact that Oman has acted as a messenger between Tehran and Washington, and that the US Secretary of State and his Iranian counterpart met a week ago. Would the phone call be a culmination of those events? The significance of these communications cannot be taken lightly and it is natural to be worried about what would be happening afterwards. Why worry? The United States is a super power, able to change the balance of powers in the region. It has besieged Iran politically, militarily and economically for three decades, and if a shift occurs in the US policy then similar policy shifts could be expected from other countries in the region. However, it remains inconceivable as to why Obama decided to open the closed door for a regime branded as evil by all the US presidents. Does Obama want to be another Nixon who opened the doors for the then Chinese enemy in the seventies? Maybe, but what would the Iranians give to the Americans in return? Nothing, they would only get the erroneous message that it is a defeat and a setback for the US.
Without the US support and a strict position toward Iran, the Middle East countries cannot face Iran with nuclear or other weapons, therefore, Obama would have to launch a struggle in the region, given the lack of transparency regarding his policy toward Iran. This policy has started to create fear and could make countries in the region adopt new defensive policies to protect themselves from Iran that will be released from the US prison.

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