The Scorpion and the Frog is an animal fable about a frog that carries a
scorpion on its back across a river. The frog is first hesitant to carry the
scorpion out of fear of being stung but the scorpion insists it wouldn't.
However, the scorpion does indeed sting the frog and when the latter asks it
why it did so, the scorpion replies saying it was its natural for it to do so.
Last week, USS Mahan destroyer was in standoff with the Iranian Revolutionary
Guard Crops' vessels, which prompted it to fire warning shots. Meanwhile,
celebrations were held in Tehran on the one-year anniversary of Iran's
detention of U.S. sailors, in what Tehran refers to as the ''humiliation of
American sailors.''
All this embarrasses President Barack Obama who ends his eight years as
president this week. Obama is the only president who carried the Iranian
regime on its back since 1979.
Obama cancelled the policy of five former U.S. presidents, negotiated with the
Iranians, signed generous agreements with them after lifting economic
sanctions and kept silent over their crimes in Syria.
As Obama is preparing to leave the White House, the Iranian regime rewarded
and bid him farewell by coming nearon the U.S. troops in Gulf waters and
insulting them again. Not to mention the insults campaigns against him all
over Iranian official media outlets.
In all cases, few days separate us from the inauguration of the
president-elect Donald Trump, after which we will observe how the Iranian
regime will deal with the new U.S. government.
Will it dare intercept its fleets and detain its sailors or open fire at
military vessels in Gulf waters?
Preparations are underway in Washington to hand over the power and what we've
heard so far indicates that the termination of Obama's presidential term is
also the end of his policy in the Gulf and that this phase will be followed by
a different era in the Middle East.
We should not rush into raising our expectations from Trump's administration
but what high-ranking officials said at the Congressional hearings last week
indicates that the new president will be different than Obama. This was
confirmed by the testimonies of three major nominees for the departments of
defense and state and the CIA regarding Iran.
All three men clearly accused Iran of being the source of unrest in the
region, confirming that the new administration will challenge it rather than
allying with it. But this does not mean abandoning the nuclear agreement as
they respect the signed agreements.
If they went ahead and did what they threatened Iran with, it will be a major
shift in U.S. policy in terms of its relations with the Gulf and the balance
of power in the Middle East.
Obama secretly began building relations with the Iranian regime and trusted
the ''scorpion'' regime. He carried it on his back betting that it will be a
regional partner in peace and a major ally in fighting terrorism.
Since Obama's administration deliberately communicated with the Tehran regime
covertly for a long period of time, it was easy to make promises and sign
deals that were not only bad for the U.S. but for the region and the entire
world.
No one in the region objects to Washington being open to Tehran and reaching
an agreement that suspends the latter's nuclear program but Obama's
administration made a series of mistakes that unleashed the Iranian regime's
monsters which are behind the disasters in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
It was unnecessary. It's about time Iran realizes it can enjoy its economic
capabilities and the world can open its doors for trade, tourism and exchange
of knowledge. However, Iran must not leave its forces and militias unleashed
and continue to threaten the security of the region and the security and
interests of the entire world.
Al Rashed is the general manager of Al -Arabiya television. He is also the
former editor-in-chief of Asharq Al- Awsat, and the leading Arabic weekly
magazine, Al Majalla. He is also a senior Columnist in the daily newspapers of
Al Madina and Al Bilad. He is a US post-graduate degree in mass
communications. He has been a guest on many TV current affairs programs. He is
currently based in Dubai.
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