EU and US Compete As Iran Readies For Another Offensive

The Manama dialogue this year in Bahrain had a different tone to it.

The annual event, IISS Manama Dialogue is held in the Kingdom of Bahrain. It sees the participation of global heads of state and high-ranking ministers discuss defense and political issues related to the Middle East.

There was a show of power and a strange air of competition between the US, Europe, and Asian powers. They are all vying for space to contribute to Gulf security, an issue which is secured the top spot on the world map.

The US withdrawal from a strategic oil region, Syria has on a talking point. But others said that this disengagement would be met with concrete actions so that this perceived vacuum could be filled up.

The world powers are discussing why the United States did what it did, while Iran is already working its way up into the Middle East to secure its power position. It has not let go of Iraq, something that is getting huge public criticism and its meddling is now in the open. It is reportedly planning fresh attacks on the Saudi Arabian oil resources, the knowledge of which did not go well for the Houthis. They took the blame for the attacks on themselves, but the Kingdom and the US never took them seriously. They have seen that their future isn’t secure and therefore divulged the fact that Iran would actually attack the Kingdom again.

This intel was shared with the Saudi officials earlier in September. A Reuter’s investigative report has confirmed that it was Iran, not the Houthis in Yemen that carried out the attacks. The plan took months until the order to carry out the attacks was given in early September. The initial list of targets included a seaport in Saudi Arabia, an airport and American military bases, but the plotters settled eventually on the Abqaiq and Khurais oil installations to avoid a direct confrontation with the US.

Whether the attempt was to totally destroy or just bully the Kingdom into a state of panic and fear is not clear. However, the fact that there was destruction enough for the Kingdom to bounce back quickly, confirms the latter.

Strangely, amidst such information doing rounds, the US and its allies cannot seem to find the same grounds to work together. Tehran is serious about further escalating the conflict in the Gulf. In particular, there is less-than-ideal coordination between the US and its partners on the one hand, and the EU and its key players on the other.

One can say it could be simply out of deference to Tehran and fear of it's withdrawing from the nuclear deal that some EU states are avoiding the appearance of working closely with the US-led coalition.