I went to Morocco and it was just so oriental, I had a very romantic view of the place. I learned later of course that the reality was not always in line with that image.
has other problems — chaos, civil war and violence in some parts, and the split between Sunnis and Shiites, which was not so obvious back then.”
He said that he could understand the resentments of Sunni Muslims who saw Iranian power expand along the “crescent” from Iran, through Iraq and Syria, to Lebanon.
“I believe the Iranians are aggressive and expansionist. They have troops on the ground through the ‘Shia foreign legion’ of recruits from Pakistan and Afghanistan who are fighting in Syria, and they are financing Bashar Assad.
“I do not believe the conflict in Yemen started as an Iranian fifth column, but as an internal conflict. Then the Houthis started to get assistance from Iran and it became part of the ‘great game’ rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran,” he added.
Mulack said that the recent attack on Syrian military positions ordered by President Donald Trump was a positive act by the US leader. “It is the only language Assad understands. It tells him that he cannot cross red lines, even if it was an emotional decision when he (Trump) saw pictures of dead children.”
He said that the West and Russia did not really have a solution to the current problems of the Middle East, and that it needed the intervention of a “facilitator” to try to bring an end to conflicts, though he added that Oman could play a bigger role in the region.
“Many say that the Arabs only understand the language of power, but I don’t agree. The states of the Middle East have got to develop civil societies and education systems. They have to empower women. Then maybe they can deal with the problems here,” he said.
“Saudi Arabia is right to follow the 2030 plan because you have to have a real state, with real economy and real industry, to deal with the long term problems,” he added.