No sea or waterway rivals the essence of our Gulf (Arab-Persian) in the amount of misery, burdens, transgressions, ambiguity, tensions, pollution, and recurring conflicts it carries.

A sea that was supposed to be a vent and a passage for trade and energy for those on its shores, and a bridge for communication between the peoples and ethnicities sharing its waters and coasts, but it has turned, through the accumulation of turbulent decades, into the most sensitive, armed, regionally intervened, and globally controlled sea in the world, to the point that crossing it has become exhausting and miserable for anyone considering it, as it lives a war that appears and disappears according to the whims of those manipulating its reality.

The Gulf was not just a water space between two shores, and it never knew the sails of love or the ships of encounter, nor was its existence built on establishing peace, even though it is a pulsating artery for regional and global transport and energy, and a gateway through which enormous amounts of oil and gas are launched to the ends of the earth.

Therefore, any crisis occurring in it does not remain confined to its borders, nor is it easily amenable to rational solutions; instead, slogans and conspiracies rise, energy prices flare up globally, markets shake, and the entire world is gripped by intense anxiety about the future of oil supplies.

During the Iran-Iraq war, the Gulf entered a phase of stubbornness and destruction, and its waters turned into black mirrors reflecting the fires of war, with oil tankers passing over them as if walking on volcanoes.

In the Kuwait liberation war, the tragedies multiplied. Its marine environment suffered from oil spills, wells were burned, waters and shores were choked, and its animal and plant life were harmed for many years.

Today, pollution is no longer the greatest danger; rather, a state of political and military tension prevails, and the Iranian-American conflict has repercussions on the world's extremities.

Iran has never treated the Gulf as a common natural space for living, cooperation, and good neighborliness, but rather turned it into a pressure card and a political weapon that it uses whenever sanctions tighten or its dispute with the West escalates.

Recurring challenges have escalated to the point of closing the Strait of Hormuz and threatening navigation through it, despite what that practically represents as a threat to the entire global economy.

Nor did it stop there; it extended to planting naval mines, targeting ports and commercial ships, and turning navigation in the Gulf into a cautious and risky operation.

Thus, the Gulf became a sea that keeps its people on edge. In countries, no matter how great their desire for peace, they continue to drain their resources on caution, armament, and protection, building ports that live under the obsession of tensions, and populations anticipating any new escalation that could turn the region into an open battlefield.

A Gulf that has not even known stability in its name; Arabs call it the Arabian Gulf, while Iran insists on calling it the Persian Gulf, as if the dispute has extended even to the very identity of the water itself.

Thus, the Gulf's waters and its neighborhood remain miserable in everything: its essence, its nature, its security, its environment, its atmosphere, its countries' relations, and even its geographical definition.

A Gulf envied for its wealth of oil, riches, and global importance, but poor in tranquility and peace.

This is a state of cultural, geographical, and civilizational difficulty that requires clear political laws and strong international intervention, so that the sea can return to its natural role in sailing, trade, and development, and be protected from random conflicts that paint its worlds with fear, regression, and isolation whenever time carries it toward the future.

shaheralnahari@