Tehran is not hesitating to send “friendly” signals to its neighbors in the Arab Gulf. These are daily signals that are too numerous to count, but practically fall under general headlines. Among these headlines are the following: The non-discontinuation of the various military maritime, land and air maneuvers, and the testing of all sorts of missiles, in parallel to the suspicions surrounding its attempts to develop nuclear weapons. The direct interference in Arab affairs, as it is happening in Iraq and Lebanon and currently in Syria, amid doubts over its involvement in activities in other Arab Gulf states - especially Bahrain and Yemen – and the trying in court of people suspected of being linked to Iran in other countries. The daily threats made by influential politicians, military men and clerics in Tehran, to militarily target Gulf regions in the context of any confrontation, even if under the pretext of responding against the American bases. The ongoing confirmation of the closing of the Hormuz Strait by force should Tehran consider that the international sanctions against it will widen and consequently threaten its oil revenues. It considers that this closure is its right because it is a regional and international superpower capable of doing so, but also that it constitutes a response to the West which it believes is conspiring against it, by depriving it of its energy sources that cross the Strait. At the same time, it believes it is entitled to prevent the producing countries overlooking the Strait from exporting their oil. These are the most prominent Iranian friendly signals toward the Arab neighbors, whom Tehran warned a few days ago against proceeding with the exportation in case oil sanctions are imposed on it. All this friendliness must be warmly and appreciatively accepted by the Arabs, without thinking about their interests, their developmental incomes or their relations with the outside world. All of this should be done for the sake of Iran that is insisting on adopting a hostile policy towards them, while relying on vagueness and mystery at the level of its nuclear file in a way raising its neighbors' concerns and the world's disgruntlement. A few days ago, and in a friendly gesture, Iranian officials addressed a warning to the Arab neighbors in case European sanctions are imposed on the Iranian oil, which brought back to mind Saddam Hussein's warning before his invasion of Kuwait. Moreover, this friendly gesture was accompanied by another which was no less friendly, after the Iranians threatened to shut down the Hormuz Strait. In light of this climate, the other oil producers in the region had to define their stand toward the production decrease and the closing of the Strait, considering that this does not only directly impact their sources of revenue, but also the relations between the producer and the consumer and global economic stability. It is in that sense that Saudi Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali al-Naimi issued his statement, in order to reassure the markets that his country could increase its production. However, from the Iranian viewpoint, this Saudi effort was an unfriendly step toward Iran, as expressed by Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi who called on Saudi Arabia to “reflect on (in an underlying diplomatic threat) and reconsider (in a direct interference in a sovereign issue and the determination of the oil policy)” the step to compensate for the shortage on the market because this policy carries “unfriendly signals” towards Tehran. This is the nature of the friendliness which Iran wishes to impose on its neighbors, while deploying all its capabilities to issue threats and warnings, display its strength and carry out direct and indirect interferences. In the meantime, its neighbors should perceive all these acts as being friendly gestures toward them. But for these neighbors to think about their interests and determine their policies based on the latter interests, this would be an unfriendly signal which they should abstain from sending. This is the Iranian friendliness and these are its conditions.
