*By Ahmed Al-Jarallah

EVERYONE should know the truth that the GCC countries and their allies fighting in Yemen are not only fighting against the Houthis and groups affiliated to former Yemeni President Ali Abdallah Saleh, because they are also combating the expansion scheme of Iran.

This major expansion scheme started in Lebanon through the Hezbollah.  The scheme reached Iraq due to the vacuum left by the United States of America’s occupation and division of the country, and then it moved to Syria due to the civil war.

Throughout this time, Iran have attempted several times to put its foot in the GCC countries by sneaking into the region through the Kingdom of Bahrain; making the latter the bridge to reach the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia which Iran considers the ‘crown’ of its scheme but that did not happen.

Consequently, it is wrong for someone to assume that the return of Yemen Republic’s president and his government to Aden marks the end of the war.  It is also a major mistake for someone to attempt to raise the issue on the financial cost of this war.

Regardless of the cost of the fight in Yemen, the loss is considered too little for the GCC countries compared to the price they have to pay in case the Persian expansion scheme succeeds as the latter could lead to ‘loss of existence’.  Every GCC national is expected to realistically look into the major threat posed by the political and military behaviors of Iran’s regime towards the entire region, especially this time.

Indeed, every war leads to losses – both human and financial; depending on the circumstances in the local, regional and international spheres. Nonetheless, wars also have their economics which, most of the time, is better than the economics of peace.  This is because wars reveal the areas of weakness in terms of performance and the establishments through which countries work to cover flaws.  It helps strengthen relations between people, eliminate negative social mentality which could have emerged in peaceful times and open the path to create new industrial opportunities.

With the situation we are in, we managed to achieve all that in the past few months – in the political and military spectrums.  This came through thrashing Iran’s scheme in Yemen and cornering the forces allied to Tehran in certain areas. The coalition forces are now assisting the official Yemeni Army and national resistance to liberate the rest of the country.

On the economic spectrum, the war has proven how solid and strong the entire GCC economy is, particularly that of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.  Despite the remarkable drop in global oil prices and increase in terrorist operations by various terrorist groups in the region, the GCC economic movement was not affected.  In fact, it increased development projects and enhanced global confidence on our economy which is not flaccid and weak.  This economy is not affected negatively by any global event.

Moreover, global conviction continues to strengthen daily based on the fact that the main source of terrorism, which is currently hitting the western countries, is in Iran and Israel.  In Iran, it is caused by greed, provocation of creedal sentiments and inciting sectarian sedition.  In Israel, this is due to its practices against Palestine. Tel Aviv has always strived to divide the Arab nations that surround its borders or pose threats to it; hence, it is impossible to solve the problem without dealing with these two sources of terrorism.

The international decision-makers, who endorsed the GCC coalition from the beginning, are not oblivious to these facts. In the coming period, it will not be strange to see the western countries participating in our coalition against Iran’s expansion scheme in Yemen and that will be part of the war against terrorism in the entire region.

*Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times