Lack Of GCC Unity Complicates Iran War, Says Academic
By Durratul Ain Ahmad Fuad
KUALA LUMPUR, April 13 (Bernama) -- A lack of unity among the countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) appears to be one of the factors contributing to the increasing complexity of the war in Iran, according to an academic.
Dr Tan Chee Meng, assistant professor of Business Economics, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Nottingham Malaysia, said this is because some GCC countries are actually asking for war, others are pushing for diplomacy, and some prefer a strategy to contain Iran.
He explained that each country has its own interests and position regarding the conflict, and that this lack of unity is making the war increasingly difficult to contain.
“I would say that if the major stakeholders in the GCC are having difficulty dealing with the Iranian issue, you can imagine that countries like Malaysia or others around the world that are middle or smaller powers and not directly involved in the conflict, are also struggling to deal with it.
“Yes, the lack of unity is one issue. As part of ASEAN, the grouping needs to consider ways to strengthen unity in order to come out with a unified response,” he said when appearing as a guest on Bernama World programme titled ‘Who Controls Shipping Through Hormuz?’ produced by Bernama TV today.
Tan stressed that the country needs to look into unity in order to make things work.
“We should rally behind the forces that are trying to do as much good as possible and hope that things would actually get better, going forward,” he added.
He said Malaysia is not spared from rising oil prices with many other oil-importing countries facing similar challenges.
“We're going through a very turbulent period. I would say that we must brace ourselves for difficult times ahead if this war is not resolved.”
Meanwhile, Tan said under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), there is no specific country that owns the Strait of Hormuz.
“There is string control in geography, covering how many kilometres from the coast, but there's no actual ownership.
“What Iran has done amounts to a blockade, which, from the perspective of many international legal scholars, is considered illegal.
“What United States (US) President Donald Trump is doing now is, in some ways, similar. Although the US has stated that it is not blockading the strait, it is effectively targeting ships entering and leaving Iranian ports, as well as those paying taxes or tolls to the Iranian regime,” he said.
He stressed that what the US is doing right now -- blockading ships -- are to cut off Iran’s abilty to generate revenue from the war.
“It's probably trying to starve the Iranian regime by restricting access to the waterways, or parts of the waterways, leading to these ports.
“As long as these ports remain blockaded and Iranian revenue continues to dry up, I’m almost certain the US is aiming to pressure Iran into returning to the negotiating table to reach terms that would end the war on its preferred conditions,” he said.
-- BERNAMA