Iran big winner from region’s turmoil: Arab League head

A still image taken from a video posted on a social media website and said to be shot on April 30, 2017, shows smoke rising after what purported to be barrel bombs were dropped on an area said to be Latamneh, in Hama province, Syria. Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Abul Gheit on Monday said that Iran and Israel were the main beneficiaries of turmoil across the Arab world, which he described as the worst he has ever seen. (Social Media Website via Reuters)

DUBAI: Arab League chief Ahmed Abul Gheit warned Monday that Iran and Israel were the main beneficiaries of turmoil across the Arab world, which he described as the worst he has ever seen.
“I have never seen anything worse than what we are now seeing,” Abul Gheit said at the Arab Media Forum in Dubai.
“Iran is enjoying what the Arab world is going through. There are those in Iran who are watching and waiting for us to destroy ourselves.”
Ties between Iran and Arab states have grown increasingly tense in recent years, with Tehran backing Syrian President Bashar Assad, Yemen’s Shiite Houthi rebels and armed Shiite groups in Iraq.
Arab governments largely back Syrian opposition groups.
Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies have for the past two years battled the Houthis, who control the capital and strategic ports along the Red Sea coastline.
Israel also stood to benefit from conflicts across the region, Abul Gheit said.
“Israel was under enormous pressure to find a solution with the Palestinians,” he said.
“If I were the prime minister ... I would have thought these were the happiest days for Israel.”
Long-stalled peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians have been overshadowed by global concerns over the Syrian war and Daesh group jihadists.