How Turkey really feels about the Iran deal

“Far from the scene in Vienna where photos were taken to commemorate this historical moment, it might be necessary to remember that the nuclear deal between Iran and the West is a result of the invasion and occupation of Iraq and the atrocities which were, and still are, endured by the Iraqi people and on the corpses of the Syrian people. This deal was signed with the blood of hundreds of thousands of Syrians who were killed to pave the way for this agreement. This deal comes after almost 100 years since the Sykes-Picot agreement. It was concluded on the ruins of the Arab world, which has descended into chaos and darkness at a time when regional and international players are content to watch Arab blood wasted as they seek only their interests!”

These blunt sentiments reflect the overall Sunni Arab mood about the long-awaited nuclear deal between Iran and the world powers. A sense of Western — i.e., US — betrayal has overwhelmed the Sunni Arabs. Yet, the remarks above are not from a Sunni Arab but amazingly from the celebrated Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, one of the most veteran political figures on the Middle East stage since the 1970s. Therefore, some in the region — including myself — consider his statements as a barometer to gauge the political trends.

In this sense, particularly his depiction of the nuclear deal in reference to Sykes-Picot, it is the notorious historic agreement that Islamists of all colors and pan-Arabists from the Islamic State (IS) to Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu wish to undo.

For Jumblatt, the nuclear deal between Iran and the West is akin to Sykes-Picot of 100 years ago that intended to carve the Ottoman-Arab lands with the decision of two Western colonial powers, the United Kingdom and France. The deal now reached between the West led by the United States and non-Arab Iran might have a similar effect on the Middle Eastern chessboard.