Groups, Institutions, Organiza

League of Arab States

Written by: Masoumeh Abedini Translated by: Hadi Qorbanyar
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The League of Arab States (Arab League) was established in 1945 to foster closer relations between member states and coordinate economic, political, social, cultural, and military collaborations among them, to safeguard their independence and sovereignty, and to consider, in a general way, the affairs and interests of the Arab countries. It was initially formed with seven members: Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and North Yemen. Over time, Morocco, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Mauritania, Somalia, Sudan, Djibouti, Libya, Tunisia, the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen, and the Palestine Liberation Organization also joined.

The League of Arab States was initially laid out through a protocol signed by the founding members. A preparatory committee then convened at the Alexandria Conference on February 14, 1944, to draft and approve its charter. Finally, on March 22, 1945, representatives of the member states and a delegate from the Palestine Liberation Organization signed the Charter of the League of Arab States.

Egypt was suspended from the League on 26 March 1979 due to the Egypt–Israel peace treaty, with the League’s headquarters moving from Cairo to Tunis, Tunisia. However, ten years later, it was readmitted to the League and its headquarters were moved back to Cairo on October 31, 1990. Libya withdrew from the League in 2003. According to the its charter, collective support for the independence and sovereignty of member states is one of the foremost objectives.

The League has nine committees covering political, economic, cultural, social, military, and legal matters. Its highest decision-making body is the Council, where representatives of member countries meet twice a year. Binding decisions—such as responses to aggression—require unanimous approval, while those passed by majority vote are binding only for the states that voted in favor. Permanent committees, operating under the Council’s oversight, study relevant issues and support joint projects and programs.

At the time of the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran in early 1979, the League’s attention was entirely focused on the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel, the relocation of its headquarters from Cairo to Tunis, and Egypt’s suspension from the organization. As a result—whether deliberately or inadvertently—the success of the Islamic Revolution in Iran was overshadowed by the developments in West Asia and effectively overlooked.

Following the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran by the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam’s Line on November 4, 1979, the League of Arab States viewed the imposition of sanctions against Iran as a move that would only heighten the crisis. It called on the Islamic Republic to release the hostages. When Iran agreed to a visit by Kurt Waldheim, then UN Secretary-General, for talks on the hostages, the League’s representative at the United Nations expressed hope that the trip might lead to their release and provide a better opportunity to inform the world about the Iranian people. Meanwhile, when a three-member Iranian delegation attended the League’s summit in Tunis on November 21, 1979, to seek formal support regarding the embassy takeover, they were denied entry to the session and prevented from negotiating with Arab delegations.

After the UN Security Council adopted a resolution on December 4, 1979, demanding the immediate release of the fifty American hostages and following U.S. calls for economic sanctions against Iran, the League regarded such moves as an escalation that would undermine the Secretary-General’s efforts. It affirmed its complete readiness to assist him in implementing the resolution whenever and however possible. Meanwhile, border clashes between Iran and Iraq were intensifying. As the Iraqi army became stuck in occupied Iranian territory and the war reached a stalemate—amid internal developments within the Islamic Republic in 1981—the Council of the League of Arab States held an extraordinary session in Baghdad on June 11, 1981. Attended by representatives from Morocco, Kuwait, Somalia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, the Yemen Arab Republic, Lebanon, and the Palestine Liberation Organization, the session issued a resolution urging Iran and Iraq to respond to mediation efforts by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Non-Aligned Movement, and the United Nations, to stop the war, and to resolve their disputes peacefully. For the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Baghdad meeting represented an attempt to back Saddam Hussein amid his impending downfall and to conceal Iraq’s war crimes against Iran. Iran viewed the collapse of the Baath regime in Iraq as serving the sacred struggle against the Zionist Regime.

When Iran announced its decision to continue legitimate defense operations inside Iraqi territory and ahead of the launch of Operation Ramazan on July 13, 1982, Iraq declared that, should Iran attack its soil, it would invoke the League’s charter—which obligates Arab states to defend Arab borders—and call on the member states to protect Iraq’s frontiers. In the final statement of the second session of the 12th Arab Summit, held in Fez, Morocco, from September 6 to 9, 1982, the League’s leaders reaffirmed Arab solidarity and the principles of the joint Arab defense charter. Article 1 of the statement welcomed Iraq’s initiatives regarding the withdrawal of its forces to the international borders. At the same time, it cautioned Iran: “In light of the principle of Arab solidarity and unity of ranks, and given the summit’s concern for fostering an atmosphere of peace, understanding, and good neighborliness between Arab countries and their neighbors, the members are determined to reaffirm their commitment to defending Arab lands and to regard any aggression against an Arab country as aggression against all Arab countries”.^[1]

 

^[1] Daerat al-Maaref-e Defa Muqaddas (A Summery of the Encyclopedia of the Sacred Defense), Vol. 1, Tehran: Markaz-e Daerat al-Maaref-e Pazhuheshgah-e Olum va Maaref-e Defa Muqaddas, 1390, Pp. 301–304.