The traditional rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran takes an aggressive turn, against a backdrop of indirect battles in Syria and Yemen. Supported by the United States and the UK, where they have an influential pressure group, the Saudis intend to dictate their political line to their Arab neighbors. And those who do not belong to their ranks like Qatar are going to suffer.

To remind who is the leader in the Middle East and to assert its hegemonic influence over the neighboring monarchies: this is the vision of Saudi Arabia's aggressive diplomatic offensive against Qatar.

Occasionally allied with Bahrain and Egypt, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates announced to stop on June 5 their all diplomatic relations with Qatar, officially accused to support terrorism and to participate in various acts of destabilization in the region with Iran.

At the same time, Saudi and the UAE closed their sea and air space, as well as the unique border of the small Qatari peninsula, where 90% of its basic commodities, including food are transited. The list of demands sent to Qatar are ultimatums and ignore all the sovereignty of the emirate such as the closure of Al-Jazeera, the Turkish military base, the breakdown of all ties with the Muslim Brotherhood, Hezbollah and jihadist formations.

This crisis undermined the GCC, which includes Saudi, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates Kuwait, Oman and Qatar. Its creation dates back to the Abu Dhabi summit on 25 May 1981, two years after the advent of the Islamic Republic of Iran, following the invasion of Afghanistan by the Red Army in December 1979 and the outbreak of the Iraqi-Iranian war in September 1980.

While these dynastic monarchies contain enormous energy and financial resources, their demographic weakness and their military vulnerability to their neighbors such as Iran, Egypt and Israel require strengthening their alliances. The GCC in various forms, take security protection with Western countries, the main ally being the United States.

The Gulf monarchies are used to the American assistance; they have failed to create a common multilateral military force because of the conflicts between their leaders and their preference for bilateral military agreements. For example, François Hollande, former French president, authorized the sale in Riyadh of 455 million euros worth  of weapons, a large part of which could be destined for the war in Yemen.

Despite the fact that the GCC could appear to be the only effective and sustainable intergovernmental organisation in the Arab world, it has a lot of structural weaknesses and the rivalries among members continues. Since its creation, there have been many customary crises that most often confront Saudi Arabia with other member states.

Nevertheless, in recent years things have changed; Saudis are no longer alone in being suspected of hegemonism. The aggressive stance of the UAE have caused concern to the Omani and other Gulf monarchies since the outbreak of the uprisings in Libya, and even more so in Yemen. The situation in Yemen highlights the complexities that govern relations between the Gulf monarchies.

Yet proceeded by an initiative of good offices to find a negotiated solution to the popular uprising of 2011, the armed conflict bogged down. Above all, it seems to be doubling henceforth between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi over the South, particularly in Hadramout, and the latter being suspected of working to partition the area for its own economic and financial interests. This tension between the two allies - which also act together to "punish" Qatar - could eventually become another sensitive issue within the GCC.

While all GCC member countries generally consider Iran as the devil. The perception of the Iranian regional rival and the modalities of action that Riyadh wishes to impose to contain it divide them into two blocks. On the one hand, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain are advocating a tough line for the multi-faceted Iranian interventions in the region (brigades sent to Syria and Iraq, Shiite militias, logistical support for Hezbollah) or positions in favor of the Shiite minorities in Saudi Arabia and the Shiite opposition in Bahrain. On the other side are Oman and Kuwait, more open to diplomatic mediation. Thus, the secret Iran-US negotiations that preceded the conclusion of the Iranian nuclear agreement in July 2015 were held in Oman, without the other monarchies being informed.

This situation with unpredictable consequences disqualifies the GCC monarchies, first and foremost Saudi Arabia, which has failed to establish itself as an Arab regional power. UAE could also undergo the consequences of its excessively destabilizing excesses, which both displease its neighbors and the US. This crisis is already significantly strengthening Iran, which appears as a solid and coherent regional power capable of regulating a part of its internal tensions.

The GCC countries violate human rights on a daily basis.  Human rights activists as well as  journalists and politicians are put in prison for expressing their opinion and fighting for a democratic system. GCC are repressing civil society with threats, intimidation detention and torture; however, the conflict between the Gulf States might put an end to their cooperation and weaken the kingdoms, allowing civil society to stand stronger.

ICSFT condemns all violations of human rights perpetrated by the GCC countries and urges the international community and the United Nations to hold these countries accountable.