Abraham Accords to diminish IRGC influence, experts say

A new era for the Middle East was charted on September 15th when the UAE and Bahrain signed agreements to normalise ties with Israel, in a move that is hoped to bring peace, prosperity and stability for the region.

While both countries are not natural allies of Israel, they all share a common enmity towards Iran, which lies across a narrow strait from the island kingdom of Bahrain and the UAE's glitzy cities of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, AFP reported.

The agreements, brokered by the US and dubbed the "Abraham Accords" in reference to the followers of Abrahamic religions -- Islam, Judaism and Christianity -- will diminish the Iranian regime's regional influence, observers said.

They will help establish peace and security in the Middle East, they said.

'End of IRGC's regional influence'

Tehran has harshly criticized the accords because they harm its expansionist policies, which it advances at the expense of the people of the region, political researcher Abdul Nabi Bakkar told Al-Mashareq.

The Iranian regime's propaganda mainly consists of inflammatory slogans that only serve to further ignite the conflicts that have plagued the region for decades, he said.

Any efforts to end these conflicts will undermine the very foundation of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its foreign arm, the Quds Force, he said.

"It would also eliminate its justification to recruit regional militia forces," he added.

The anticipated prosperity in the Middle East is not compatible with the IRGC's policies. Those policies, which were implemented in Lebanon, Yemen, Syria and Iraq, are based on exploiting peoples' needs, according to Bakkar.

Meanwhile, he said, the IRGC is unable to provide an alternative because it is under severe economic pressure.

'Iran does not want peace'

"What Iranian state media promote is nothing more than a media campaign to save face," Cairo-based Emirati political researcher Abdullah bin Hamad told Al-Mashareq. "The Abraham Accords and similar agreements will destroy Iran's regional aspirations and destructive endeavors."

"How come the Abraham Accords are rejected [by Iran] but the presence of the IRGC and its proxies is acceptable? Iran is disconnected from reality," he said.

The Iranian regime is "extremely angry" because its policies are being subverted as a result of the accords, he added.

The UAE is a country "founded on good relations with all countries" and it needs to retain this status quo since its economy is essentially based on global investments and tourism, bin Hamad said.

"If the Islamic Republic would accept responsibility for its own failures and stop blaming other countries for them, it could no longer justify its existence to the Iranian people," a retired Iranian navy analyst who asked to remain anonymous told Al-Mashareq.

Rather than making peace, he said, the Iranian regime lashes out, then turns around and tells the people of Iran that it is protecting them from "the arrogant power of America and its regional allies".

The Islamic Republic does not want peace, he said, "because peace threatens its very purpose".

Bahrain welcomes peace accords

Bahraini journalist Ghazi al-Ghurairi told Al-Mashareq the peace accords will ease tensions in the Middle East after decades of turbulence.

"This agreement is a historic and important step towards establishing peace and ending the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. It will also halt the IRGC's regional interference," he said.

The agreement will promote a culture of peace in the world, which will replace the devastation that has plagued the region for more than seven decades, said al-Ghurairi.

"Bahrain welcomed the agreement in the hope that it would mark the beginning of global stability and a prosperous future through revitalising economic relations in the region," he said.

Ardeshir Kordestani contributed to this article.