We return to talk about Iran after we thought we had moved on to other topics, as if Iran has taken a liking to the poet Al-Mutanabbi's saying:

Injustice is a trait of souls; if you find one with modesty, it is due to a reason that does not oppress. Before we delve into the talk about Iran, it is pleasant to discuss the occasion of Al-Mutanabbi's utterance of this verse. Al-Mutanabbi was passing through Tripoli in the Levant, and the ruler of that region at the time was Ishaq bin Ibrahim bin Yalghulagh al-A'war. It was mentioned to this ruler that Al-Mutanabbi had arrived in that land on his way from Ramla to Antioch, and that he did not contact him out of arrogance and pride, as was Al-Mutanabbi's habit—he chose whom to praise and did not knock on rulers' doors; rather, they sent for him. Among the companions of Ishaq bin Yalghulagh were the Banu Haydara, who had a prior enmity with Al-Mutanabbi's father. They incited Ishaq bin Ibrahim against Al-Mutanabbi and urged him to kill him. So he sent for Al-Mutanabbi, asking him to praise him. Al-Mutanabbi apologized, claiming he had sworn not to praise anyone for six months. The ruler Ishaq imprisoned him until the specified months passed so that he would praise him and compose poetry that would delight him. But Al-Mutanabbi managed to escape from prison. Before leaving, he wrote a poem containing this cited verse, which is among the masterpieces of Al-Mutanabbi's vocabulary, and gave it to someone he trusted, asking him to publish it after he left the country. It was a poem that spared nothing in obscene satire, and also contained wonderful wisdom.

We return to talk about Iran, which we thought had come to its senses when it agreed to the terms of the memorandum of understanding with the United States of America, but it returned to its old ways as if it had embodied Al-Mutanabbi's saying in the previous verse. It deluded itself into thinking it could possess the Gulf waters without international restrictions, humanitarian laws, or logical reasoning, and began striking commercial ships passing through new maritime routes off the Omani coast, claiming they had not obtained permission. It is utterly astonishing to hear this demand, which no rational person can accept. What business does Iran have with other coasts? If it thinks it can use this in its long and exhausting negotiations with the United States, it is gravely mistaken, because this illegal and illogical action will bring upon it many calamities, weakening it more than if it had refrained. But Al-Mutanabbi says in another verse of the same poem:

The intelligent person suffers in bliss because of his intellect, while the ignorant person enjoys himself in misery. The Iranian people have suffered from the ignorance of those who make political decisions, not from the people's intellect, as if reversing the meaning intended by the poet. The Iranian people, numbering over ninety million, mostly live in a very difficult economic and security situation, and they see no hope on the horizon for a better life, at least in the present and prior times since the Iranian revolution. The Iranian people long to live a secure life like other peoples of the globe; they are tired of hardship and diminishing hope. But the clouds must clear one day. Iran is rich in energy, minerals, raw materials, and manpower, and it can rise whenever conditions become favorable.

In another verse of the poem, Al-Mutanabbi says:

And part of the calamity is blaming one who does not desist from his error, and addressing one who does not understand. Advice to Iran pours down like rain from every direction, hoping it will return to the right path and come back to reason and logic. But some leaders there insist on following the same approach they have taken since the revolution. It is this limited group of leadership to which the poet's saying in the above verse applies. Iran's neighboring countries, foremost among them the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which has strong global influence, have shown patience and have tried and are still trying to help Iran out of its predicament by mediating between it and the United States, which takes what the Kingdom says with great interest.

Saudi Economic Reports