The Iran question

Six months after the breakthrough deal between Iran and the P5+1 group in July 2015, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, International Atomic Energy Agency, declared on Jan. 16 that Iran has complied with the initial requirements of the "Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action." As a result, the U.N. sanctions on Iran and its international isolation are ending after several decades. The re-engagement with Iran has been an important success for global diplomacy, and its effects will soon be felt both on regional and international politics.

Since the beginning of the negotiations, Iran's main regional rivals, Saudi Arabia and Israel, have tried to stall its return to international arena as regional balancer. Besides, the long-simmering ethnic and sectarian fractions of the Middle East, which were deepened through the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 and which Iran has been an important part of, has flared up recently.

The regional power competition has also turned into proxy wars in Iraq, Syria and Yemen between Iran-led Shiite and Saudi-led Sunni blocs. The tension between them increased following the execution of a prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, in Saudi Arabia earlier this month with terrorism charges. It sparked protests among Shias across the region and resulted in subsequent attacks on Saudi missions in Iran. The ensuing crisis added instability to an already volatile region.

In addition, the founding of the Islamic Military Alliance, openly designed as a Sunni front against Iran as well as Iraq and Syria, with the participation of 34 countries in mid-December 2015, enlarged the camps. The structure of the alliance is a clear Sunni axis against Shiite grouping around Iran and reflects that the widespread threat perceived by the Gulf...