In its recent statement, the Gulf Cooperation Council declared that “Iranian attacks have also led to a sharp loss of confidence by the Council states in Iran, which requires Iran to take the initiative to make serious efforts to rebuild trust”. While rebuilding trust in our region is a lofty and essential objective, and while Iran has always taken the initiative in this regard, it is imperative for all sides to recognise their share in the current regrettable state of affairs.The unprovoked aggression against Iran was the product of blatant miscalculations and mistakes. It was predicated on the illusion that Iran had been weakened and thus incapable of resisting and responding forcefully to a massive onslaught by two nuclear powers, aided and abetted by regional actors. Policymakers in Washington and Tel Aviv and in some regional capitals convinced themselves that a swift campaign of economic pressure, sabotage, covert operation, decapitation and indiscriminate war crimes could break the Islamic Republic and leave it with little opportunity to respond. They were wrong. Iran’s response, measured yet resolute, demonstrated not only its military resilience but also its capacity to react on a scale that reverberated far beyond the region.Our Arab neighbours in the GCC had their gra …
