The Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi’s recent trip to Egypt, during which he met with Egypt’s President, Mohammed Morsi, was an effort to converge regional perspectives so as to resolve the Syrian crisis in the context of a political solution.
Iran maintains that regional perspectives should converge in order to solve regional issues such as that of Syria’s. Yet, it is not easy to obtain the views of the four major regional players, namely, Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, to unite over Syria’s situation. Each of these players seeks to solve the crisis through different means and goals preserving its own national interest and security.
Perhaps, among the aforementioned players, the views of Iran and Egypt are more flexible than the other two players. Saudi Arabia and Turkey seek to meet their regional interests by getting closer to the policies of trans-regional players such as the United States. This doesn’t necessarily mean that they follow the Western policy precisely. Rather, they maintain that it is to their benefit to coordinate their policy in this context. Therefore, they lean towards pushing through their current policy, which is to bring about a regime change in Syria.
In contrast, the views of Iran and Egypt are based more on bolstering regional perspectives, both emphasizing such common goals as the necessity of halting violence in Syria, preventing foreign intervention in the country, and focusing on finding a political and negotiated solution to the Syrian crisis. Of course, Iran and Egypt are still discrepant about whether the incumbent Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should stay or leave; a difference emphasized by Yasser Ali Morsi’s spokesman, once again, during the recent meeting in Cairo.
Although political developments in the Arab world have given priority to the Arab societies’ internal issues i.e., political and social reforms, as well as ideological demands, the main source of rivalry is still going on among the states as classic players in the Middle East’s political scene, aiming to institute their regional roles in the context of power equations.
Under these new circumstances, rivalries and cooperation among regional players aim to create equilibrium between the dynamics of regional countries’ domestic policies on the one hand, and playing a regional role on the other. As such, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, influenced by their domestic politics and the degree of regional roles, have adopted a rather inflexible position insisting on changing the regime in Syria at any cost.
As for Turkey, although Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government, under the pressure of domestic politics, is gradually adopting a more realistic stance towards the Syrian crisis- this being a reason behind Turkey’s participation in the recent meeting in Cairo - Ankara continues to underline its inflexible position by calling for the change of Basher al-Assad’s regime hoping to acquire the region’s political leadership as well as for the sake of economic interests. However, it seems too late for the Turkish leadership to take a step back over the Syrian crisis.
As for Saudi Arabia, the absence of the Saudis in the Cairo meeting has been probably a result of the existing succession issue within the Saudi regime’s political elites as to how to deal with the ongoing crisis in Syria. Meanwhile, for the Saudis, solving the Syrian crisis in a regional context would inevitably bolster Iran and Egypt’s regional roles. Consequently, given the dynamics of the Arab Spring, this development would impact Saudi Arabia’s domestic politics.
Under these circumstances, more proximity between Iran and Egypt can be the key as to solving the Syrian crisis in a regional context. It can also provide the grounds for further engagements of Turkey and Saudi Arabia, forcing them into accepting a regional political solution for the Syrian crisis.
Source: http://en.merc.ir
Dr. Kayhan Barzegar is Director of the Institute for Middle East strategic Studies (IMESS). He is also a faculty member and Chair of the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the Science and Research Branch of the Islamic Azad University in Tehran
For Academic Citation:
Kayhan Barzegar, "A Regional Solution for Syria," Institute for Middle East Strategic Studies, September 25, 2012.