Iran and the Deliberate Insult of Iraq

The real question is not why drones and missiles are launched from Iraqi territory! The question is: why is the Iranian project determined to turn Iraq into a platform to confront the Gulf states?! In my view, the issue is not merely military; it is a political project aimed at keeping Iraq distant from its Arab identity, hindering any rapprochement between Baghdad and the Gulf states, and transforming this large Arab country into a proxy battleground, with Iraqis bearing the cost before anyone else. Every attack launched from Iraq harms not only the Gulf states but Iraq first and foremost. It undermines trust between Iraq and its Arab brothers, affects investment and development opportunities, and increases the likelihood of escalation, which Iraqis do not need after years of wars and crises. The question raised by many Arabs remains: Why does Iraqi territory become a platform for targeting Gulf states, while these operations do not originate from Iranian territory if they are part of a direct confrontation? In my view, using Iraq achieves two goals simultaneously: it keeps direct confrontation away from Iran and maintains Iraq in a state of constant tension with its Arab neighborhood, thereby preventing its natural return to its Arab role and historical status. Another question imposes itself: Where were these arms when the US military presence in Iraq was at its peak? Why did this level of escalation not appear during that period, as it does today in conflicts that strain relations with Arab states? I write these words as an Arab who believes that the security of Arab states is indivisible and that Iraq’s stability is not just an Iraqi interest but a shared Arab and Gulf interest. Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the Gulf states are bound by history, geography, interests, and future. Any attempt to ignite hostility among them serves only projects based on division and perpetuating crises. Anyone who turns Iraq into a platform for targeting Arab states does not serve Iraq; rather, they weaken its state, drain its people, and usurp its national sovereignty. Iraq is too big to be a battleground for settling regional scores and too big to be reduced to militia projects and cross-border loyalties. The time has come for Iraq to reclaim its natural position as an Arab state with full sovereignty, where the state alone holds the monopoly on arms, and decisions on war and peace are national, made by legitimate institutions, not armed groups or external agendas. Iraq’s stability is the Gulf’s stability, and the Gulf’s stability is Iraq’s strength. Any project that sows discord between them serves only those who want to keep the region hostage to conflicts. Iraq deserves to be a bridge for Arab cooperation, a beacon of development, and a partner in building the region’s future, not a battleground for proxy wars or a platform for threatening its neighbors’ security. There is no security for Iraq without security for the Gulf, and no security for the Gulf without a strong, stable, and fully sovereign Iraq, because their destiny is one, their challenges are shared, and the future of the Arab nation can only be built through solidarity, respect for state sovereignty, and rejecting the transformation of any Arab state into a battleground for others’ conflicts.