IT IS not an exaggeration to claim that the Middle East today is going through one of the most critical, violent and tense periods of its history.

Almost a quarter-century after the end of the cold war, the potential for conflicts has never been larger. With the exception of Oman, all Middle Eastern countries are involved in one or more wars and disputes with their neighbours.

The US has been able to manipulate developments in the region to secure its position as the main power with the capacity to dictate its terms.

Hegemonic domination by any means, including collaboration with reactionary forces, is an inherent characteristic of imperialism. The present global capitalist crisis has intensified the imperialists’ need to use any opportunity to secure their global economic advantage.

Imperialists have exploited the global power imbalance to subdue challenges and continue their dominance. A major part of this strategy is the US attempt to rearrange the political map of the Middle East. Significant realignments are underway as imperialists seek to secure their strategic and economic dominance to exploit every profitable opportunity.

In many countries, including Yemen, Iraq and Syria, reactionary fundamentalist and sectarian forces have been manipulated and used by the US and its allies to divide nations and facilitate the implementation of the final stages of the “New Middle East” plan.

The sinister appearance of Islamic State (Isis), the significant successes it has had in Iraq, and its sudden transformation into an army that can react quickly has created a golden opportunity for rapid direct or proxy intervention by the US and Nato.

Progressive forces in the region see Isis as the product of the direct or indirect involvement of US imperialism in the Middle East. In this context, Isis is an important instrument to inflict damage and paralysis on the left and nationalist forces and weaken them. Isis has been created, supported and maintained to carry out “regime change” in Syria, with endless resources provided by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The US is exploiting the current situation in the region. This means that the US can, directly or indirectly, delegate the execution of its plans in the region to a number of key regional powerhouses such as Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Egypt and Iran. This in turn enables the US to focus its attention and resources elsewhere in the world and to deal with its strategic challenges posed by Russia and China. The US plan is to maintain unrivalled control of the vital energy sources and supplies of the region while blocking access to the same by emerging economies and rivals.

The p5+1 negotiations with Iran have played an important role in the policies of the US and EU with regards to Iran and the Middle East. The New York Times wrote on October 2 2014: “The Islamic Republic, 35 years after the revolution, is — like it or not — a serious and stable power in an unstable region...”

It continued: “An important recent report from The Iran Project — whose distinguished signatories include Zbigniew Brzezinski (and) John Limbert (the former US hostage in Tehran) — put the US strategic interest in a deal well: ‘There is a strong link between settling the nuclear standoff and America’s ability to play a role in a rapidly changing Middle East.’” A nuclear agreement, the report said, “will help unlock the door to new options. From Syria to Afghanistan by way of Iraq, those options are urgently needed.”

As developments in the last 18 months have demonstrated, US imperialism has developed a strategy for “multilateral” containment in relation to Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Israel. It simultaneously supports certain developments in relation to each key player and challenges other aspects. The US seeks to exploit internal unrest and contradictions through a “carrot and stick” approach in its diplomacy. This results in even sharper sectarian divisions and setbacks in the region, which promote the rise of violence and terror.

The current crisis in Yemen, where the Saudi-led coalition has bombarded the country for nearly two months, is a direct result of such policy. The Saudi Arabian leadership views the US policy towards Iran as a major challenge to its influence as a significant player in the politics of the Arab and Islamic states. The Saudi rulers and their Persian Gulf allies are not ready for accommodation, by the US, of an Iranian powerhouse with significant influence in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Yemen. The regimes in Turkey, Egypt and Israel behave in the same way.

The Arab Spring movements in the region, while genuinely reflecting the desire for economic, social and political changes, have largely failed to deliver fundamental reforms. The destructive role of imperialism in subverting these movements is increasingly clear.

As for Iran, the theocratic dictatorship has been secretly developing rapprochement with the US since 2010 due to the crushing effect of the US economic sanctions on the nation. Top officials from the US and representatives of the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei started to hold regular highly confidential meetings while the Ahmadinejad government superficially maintained an anti-US stance. Obama’s administration, using sanctions, has taken Iran’s economy hostage. Consequently the theocratic regime has now accepted all the conditions demanded by the P5+1 group. This will help the US primary objective of appropriately positioning the Islamic Republic’s role within the “New Middle East.”

The theocratic regime of Iran sees the rapprochement with the US as its path to survival and this is the regime’s main objective. With the Vienna deal, the US and Iran’s ruling dictatorship have now found common strategic ground for reaching their objectives.

Iran has one of the most brutal and inhumane regimes in the world with a ruthless neoliberal economy, and is fast becoming an instrument of the US. Its leadership co-operates with wider US policies while intensifying internal suppression.

As the internal contradictions in Iran deepen, especially those arising from economic pressures, resistance to oppression and socioeconomic injustice by workers, women and students intensifies. The Islamic Republic has found itself with no alternative except to manage its internal contractions through collaborative political and economic engagement with imperialism.

Two years after the engineered presidential election in Iran, there is every indication that the regime is incapable of solving the economic, social and political problems of ordinary working people.

A key objective of that election was to have an experienced diplomat in office who could move towards the easing of relations with the US. While the Iranian progressive and democratic forces support the alleviation of tensions between Iran and the US (and EU) and ending the sanctions that are gravely hurting the people, they oppose all attempts to sustain the ruling dictatorship and its coexistence with US imperialism. US foreign policy no longer regards “political Islam” as a strategic threat.

That is why the people’s campaign for democracy in Iran and elsewhere is inherently linked with the struggle of the popular movement against imperialism. Only through mobilising the widest spectrum of social forces against this, both nationally and regionally, can peace and progress be secured there.

• Navid Shomali is secretary of the Tudeh Party of Iran’s international department.