Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit has warned that any military action against Iran could trigger wide-reaching instability across West Asia and beyond. Speaking at a public interaction hosted by the Indian Council of World Affairs and moderated by former diplomat Talmiz Ahmad, he also defended Arab nations’ support for the US-led Board of Peace on Gaza, calling it a pragmatic effort to end the ongoing conflict and a key part of ongoing Iran-Gaza diplomacy.
Aboul Gheit stressed that Gulf countries have consistently rejected military escalation and favored diplomacy. On the risks of confrontation, he said, “If such an event happens, it will be negative for the region and for everyone else,” adding, “It will be a disaster for the peace of the world.” He was responding to questions about US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a naval armada sent to the Gulf, a move that has sparked fears of military action against Tehran.
US Naval Deployment Not New, Politics Have Shifted
Placing the deployment in context, he said, “The presence of the American troops in the Gulf, Bahrain, the Red Sea and the Mediterranean is not a new development,” noting that the US Fifth Fleet has been in Bahrain since 1995, with American forces in the region since 1945. He added, “What has shifted is the politics and policies [in Washington].” Questioning US statements, he said, “I am not taken in by [the] declarations of Americans. Yes, they want to settle from that point of view, thinking that Iran is a nuclear country.”
Turning to Gaza, Aboul Gheit said Arab states supported Trump’s Board of Peace initiative as Washington’s first call for a ceasefire after former President Joe Biden vetoed four UN Security Council resolutions seeking to halt the fighting. He explained, “We have had a president in Washington who admitted that he was a Zionist himself. He supported Israel directly as a Zionist. Four times there have been calls in the Security Council and draft resolutions presented calling for a ceasefire in Palestine, and the American administration at the time vetoed them all.”
Past US Policies Criticized
Despite skepticism over the Board of Peace, several Gulf nations endorsed it last week in Davos. Defending Arab participation, he said, “When I heard for the first time that the American president himself, in person, was committing himself to lead a council or a board to supervise a settlement, well, welcome! Between someone who was saying, ‘I am the strongest adviser and supporter to Israel, I am a Zionist’ and a president who says ‘I am for peace and for the ending of the killing and ending the conflict’, if we are logical, we have to try.”
He also noted unresolved issues around the board, saying, “How the implementation will proceed remains to be seen.” On Israel, he said, “An occupying power will never tell you, ‘Yes, sir, you are permitted to do so.'”
Global Tensions and Cold War Warning Over
Aboul Gheit linked regional tensions to broader global shifts, asserting, “I claim that we are in the midst of a Cold War,” and describing the American empire as attempting to reverse a decline. On historical patterns, he said, “There is no way for a new order to emerge without war.” Reflecting on solutions, he admitted, “In all honesty, I don’t know. The situation is very fluid.”
Earlier, Aboul Gheit met External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in New Delhi. Jaishankar tweeted that it was a “warm” meeting discussing “recent developments in the region.” Aboul Gheit expressed optimism about India-Arab ties, noting India’s progress and large workforce in the Gulf, “The Arabs understand the potential of India,” while acknowledging that bilateral momentum had slowed.
(With inputs from ANI)
