Just days after the successful completion of Bahrain’s Grand Prix, an Iran-made rocket hit Jeddah, on the eve of its own Formula One event.
It is inconceivable that the Houthis would have embarked on such a strike without consulting their Iranian sponsors who gave them these rockets which they use for daily attacks against Gulf targets, including civilian and economic infrastructure.
By striking such sensitive targets, Tehran is trying to cause global concerns; both over the security of worldwide oil supply, and over the possible targeting of major sporting events and tourism hubs.
With the oil supply crisis caused by the Ukraine conflict, suddenly America and the West are remembering about why strong ties with GCC states are so essential. However, Ukraine isn’t the only state which is subject to foreign aggression.
If the world really cares about sovereignty and enforcing international law, then there should be greater support and solidarity in responding to these Iranian provocations. Indeed, hundreds of thousands of sports fans attend Grand Prix races each year, and with the 2022 football World Cup hosted in the GCC we all have an interest in ensuring that the terrorist Ayatollahs can’t target sports events or other public gatherings with impunity.
Russia was allowed to get away with annexing Crimea, and then eastern Ukraine and then committing war crimes in Syria; and as a result, the Kremlin thought that it could get away with capturing all of Ukraine. In exactly the same way, Iran and its proxies have been allowed to get away with attacking and dominating Arab states, and engaging in war crimes and terrorism, and will one day try using military force to go even further.
The fascist regime in Tehran must be forced to see that if it doesn’t play by the rules it will play a heavy price. This does not necessarily mean direct military retaliation; Iran is most hated by its own people, and the Ayatollahs most fear that their people will rise up and that they will meet the same end as Qadhafi.
Iran is rotten to the core and is fated to collapse from the inside. The civilized world should facilitate this process and warn Iran’s leaders that whenever it wages terrorist attacks on peaceful nations such support for regime change will be upscaled. Change is coming in Iran; let’s put ourselves on the right side of history.