Context: Recently, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has sent a letter to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) backing an extension of its arms embargo on Iran, just two months before it is set to expire.

Current Scenario

• The GCC has alleged that Iran had not ceased or desisted from armed interventions in neighbouring countries, directly and through organisations and movements armed and trained by Iran.

Allegation on Iran

• The UN, the USA and other armament experts have accused Iran of providing arms to Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
• Iran allegedly arms Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon and Syria and also provides weapons to Shiite militias in Iraq and terrorist groups in Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
• The letter also mentioned Iran’s shootdown of a Ukrainian passenger plane and its navy accidentally killing 19 sailors in a missile strike during an exercise.
• Iran also is suspected of launching an attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil industry in September 2019.

Arms Embargo

• In 2010, the UN banned Iran from purchasing foreign-made weapons like fighter jets, tanks and warships amid tensions over Iran’s nuclear program.
• The embargo blocked Iran from replacing its ageing equipment, much of which had been purchased before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
• An earlier embargo had targeted Iranian arms exports.
• In 2015, under Iran’s nuclear deal (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action), the UN agreed to end the arms embargo in October 2020.
• In 2018, the USA unilaterally withdrew from the deal as a part of the maximum pressure campaign to hurt Iran’s already ailing economy.

Internal Conflict in GCC: Even though the GCC has offered a unified statement, it remains affected by internal conflict among the member nations. For example:

• Qatar crisis, which saw Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Emirates cut diplomatic ties with Qatar and launch a boycott of the nation beginning in 2017.
• Qatar has had good relations with Iran and has used its airspace while sharing a vast offshore oil and gas field with Tehran (Iran’s capital).
• Qatar is home to the massive Al-Udeid Air Base and the forward headquarters of the USA military’s Central Command.
• Oman also has had close ties to Iran and has served as an interlocutor between Tehran and the West.
• On the other hand, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are suspicious of Iran and accuse it of stirring up dissent among Shiite populations in the region.

Iran’s Stand

• Iran has denied the various accusations of its involvement in arms supply.
• Iran has condemned the GCC letter and called it an irresponsible statement that serves the USA’s interests.
• It has also criticized the GCC countries for being “among the largest arms buyers in the region and the world,” even amidst the economic downturn caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)

• GCC is a political and economic alliance of six countries in Arabian Peninsula: Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE.
• All these member countries of the GCC come under the Persian Gulf Region.