Since the outbreak of al-Qaeda’s terrorist activities in early 2000, and the turning point with the attack on America the following year, it was clear that the main beneficiary of al-Qaeda’s terrorist operation against the US was the Iranian regime, at the expense of Saudi Arabia’s reputation. This has been demonstrated by events ever since the fall of the Twin Towers in New York City.

Iran benefitted from Iraq, where it facilitated the overthrow of the Saddam Hussein regime, riding the back of the American raging bull. Its Alawite Syrian ally also benefited, despite all the false rhetoric of Arabism, resistance, and rejecting the occupation of Iraq at the time. Iran also benefitted from the overthrow of the Taliban, which it also facilitated, and then returned later to take advantage of it, as it did in Iraq to attack the Americans. Tehran has also benefitted from its unprecedented incursion into Lebanon, the turning point being the assassination of Rafik Hariri. Iran also facilitated and sponsored through its Syrian ally, the Hamas coup in Gaza, while using al-Qaeda everywhere to serve its causes, and to damage the interests and reputation of Saudi Arabia. It sought to consolidate the stereotype that terrorism is a Sunni creation, and that the terrorists and their financiers are Saudis.

Of course, Iran has also played the democracy game, even deceiving a writer of the stature of the American Thomas Friedman, who once wrote about Iran’s democracy, comparing it to Saudi Arabia, and from the standpoint of women. Then the Green Revolution came in Iran, only to be stopped in its tracks by the mullah’s regime with weapons and suppression, and the facts came to light. Hence the American writer returned to correct himself, but only after the fact. Iran did not stop there, but sought to take advantage of the democratic game in the region, in the days of intense pressure exerted by former US President George W. Bush on the Middle Eastern states. America was convinced that the cause of the region’s problems was Sunni extremism, and the absence of democracy. Iran followed every step of democratic reform in areas of its potential influence in the region, and inundated these countries with funding, buying debts in exchange for control of the elected parliaments, such as in Bahrain, Lebanon and Iraq, and certainly in Egypt, especially in the media. It also sought to train and equip some of its allies in Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq.

For 10 years Iran has focused on damaging the interests of Saudi Arabia and tarnishing its reputation, sometimes through books and articles published at international level, unfortunately with the support of Arab allies. Iran has clearly turned a blind eye towards Saudis affiliated to al-Qaeda entering and leaving Iranian territory, through Syria, and of course al-Qaeda’s symbols and their families have also been hosted in Iran. This is not all; Iran has strengthened the concept of resistance and opposition in the region through its ally in Damascus, its agent Hezbollah, and through alliances with others such as the Muslim Brotherhood, and of course Hamas. Iran has sought to harness the Brotherhood’s media and literature, and some Gulf media outlets have been partners in this scheme.

Today, after the discovery of Iran’s plan to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador to Washington, Adel al-Jubeir, by employing Mexican drug cartels, amidst the mounting international condemnation of Iran, the moves to impose further sanctions upon it, and not to mention the threat of bringing it before the Security Council, the important question is: Has the Persian project in our region come to an end?

I think that it is the beginning of the end, especially as many false slogans have collapsed as a result of the Syrian revolution, and today the biggest lie is in danger of collapsing; namely that Iran is trustworthy.