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Can Zarif’s Hormuz “Peace Endeavour” be Taken Seriously?

October 11, 2019
Faramarz Davar
6 min read
Under international law, vessels are entitled to pass through the strait unimpeded
Under international law, vessels are entitled to pass through the strait unimpeded
Zarif called for a coalition of peace in the Middle East
Zarif called for a coalition of peace in the Middle East
Can Zarif’s Hormuz “Peace Endeavour” be Taken Seriously?

Iran’s foreign minister has appealed to Gulf countries to come together with Iran to ensure peace in the region — urging them to join the Hormuz Peace Endeavor, also known as Hope. 

Writing in the Financial Times and in Kuwaiti Arabic newspaper Al Rai on October 10, a day ahead of reports that an Iranian tanker was attacked near the coast of Saudi Arabia on October 11, Mohammad Javad Zarif invited Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar,Oman, Kuwait and Iraq to help him secure stability in the Middle East. 

President Hassan Rouhani initially spoke of the Hormuz Peace Endeavour at the UN General Assembly in September 2019 as a bid to counteract the US-led anti-Iran campaign and Donald Trump's call for a coalition of countries to secure the Strait of Hormuz, through which 15 million barrels of petroleum are transported daily — and to use military might if necessary.  

The Strait of Hormuz runs between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, and is between Iran and Oman territorial waters. Under the    UN International Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), international vessels are entitled to use the strait without interference. Other international regulations also apply to the strait. However, Iran adopted but never ratified UNCLOS, obviously putting its commitment to the convention in question. 

Normally, Iran and Oman share responsibility for ensuring the security of the strait. During and after the Iran-Iraq war in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Persian Gulf was unsafe and any ships passing through the strait were in danger of accidental fire. Russia, and later the US, deployed military forces to the Persian Gulf area to protect vessels. Russia eventually left the area, but US Navy forces remain, as well as troops from France and the United Kingdom. 

Military presence in international waters is permitted under international law, so the US call for an anti-Iran coalition in the Gulf, and the growing military presence in the area has prompted Iran to take action — hence the “peace endeavour.”

But Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have cut diplomatic ties with Iran, and relations between Iran and the United Arab Emirates and Qatar are tense, so Zarif’s call for collaboration was always going to be controversial. 

 

A Plan of Unity Against a Backdrop of Mistrust

Zarif’s op-eds in the two papers details the initiative of Hope, and how he sees it as functioning. In the newspaper Al Rai, he claims the initiative will “combat terrorism, extremism and sectarian tensions and neutralize the territorial integrity, the inviolability of our international borders, and the peaceful settlement of disputes, energy security and freedom of navigation for all resources and petrol, investments in all sectors” affecting the governments, people and private sectors of all eight countries concerned.

In the Financial Times, he wrote: “ Academics and prominent thinkers can also work together to expand cultural cooperation, interfaith dialogue and tourism. Scientific cooperation could include the exchange of scholar and students, and joint scientific and technological projects.”

Although Zarif sets out a reasoned and logical argument for dealing with the current situation, given the Islamic Republic’s recent activities in the region — including seizing British tanker Steno Impero earlier this year and being accused of launching attacks on Saudi oil facilities, which reduced its oil production by half —  his credibility will be in question.  

Because of hostilities that arose between Iran and other countries in the Middle East following the Islamic revolution in 1979, and fears that the Islamic Republic planned to export the revolutionary fervor of Ayatollah Khomeini throughout region, mistrust of the Iranian regime has a long history, and is still rife, made worse by the Islamic Republic‘s expansion of its military activities to allies in Lebanon and Palestine. More recently, its support of the Houthis in Yemen and their efforts to topple the Yemeni government, which is supported by Saudi Arabia, as well as the fact that Iran has extended offers of shelter and residency in the Iranian holy city of Qom to Shia leaders opposed to the Bahrain monarchy, has fomented deep hostilities in the region.  

Furthermore, while the government of Iraq has acknowledged the role the Revolutionary Guards Quds Force played in combatting ISIS, it has criticized Iran’s continued support of al-Hashd al-Sha’abi (the Popular Mobilization Forces), which operates separately from the Iraqi army and which Iraq wants to integrate into its national forces. So even when it comes to certain allies, there is a degree of skepticism.

 

Valued Academics or a Dangerous Job?  

Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, stating that other countries should not be able to export oil if the Islamic Republic is banned from doing so under US sanctions. This, along with its apparent attack on Saudi oil and aggression toward a British vessel, has meant Rouhani and Zarif’s calls for peace and “freedom of navigation of all resources” ring hollow for many in the region.

Zarif’s invitation to the academic and diplomatic communities to join Iran in "forging a blueprint for peace, security, stability and prosperity” is also problematic for the international community, given that Iran — led by the Revolutionary Guards and the Supreme Leader — has repeatedly targeted academics who work with other countries, and labeled them as spies. Swedish resident and Iranian citizen Ahmad Reza Jalali, a disaster relief researcher and expert, who faces the death penalty for alleged espionage, is one example. And eight environmentalists remain behind bars since January 2108.

Academics from the region, whether it is Bahrain or the United Arab Emirates, will be unwilling to “forge a blueprint” with Iranian officials, whether they are academic or not. In this climate, Iran’s own researchers and academics are unlikely to want to work closely with Saudi Arabia‘s Malik Salman or the crown prince Muhammad bin Salman, fearful of being branded a spy and a traitor.

In the Arabic article published in Al Rai, Zarif writes that President Rouhani has commissioned him to consult with other countries, appealing for feedback on the Hormuz Peace Endeavour. Out of the seven countries he addresses, Iraq, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait, which all have established diplomatic relationships with Iran, might cooperate with Iran to some extent, at least on a verbal level, but it’s a fantasy to think that Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates would ever come together with Iran to take any kind of joint action. 

In fact, a similar alliance already exists — the Gulf Cooperation Council. It doesn’t include Iraq and Iran, and it is certainly challenged by its own internal discord. And yet, it is an established institution and could potentially be a useful force in the region. 

But it must be remembered that the main objective of the Hormuz Peace Endeavour is to confront the US military in the Persian Gulf. And for some countries in the region, this presence is not only welcome, it is seen as essential.

Zarif ends his English article in the Financial Times with a verse from Rumi, the famous 13th Persian century poet. The quotation is perhaps Zarif’s attempt to suggest that, beyond any intention to harness a joint Islamic ideological coalition, he is simply calling for unity. The verse reads: “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right-doing there is a field. I’ll meet you there“ 

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