The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has as its goal the worldwide advancement of Islam. When it is compelled to leave off from this brief to denounce a member country, the matter has to be taken seriously. The resounding condemnation of Iran over the storming of the Kingdom’s missions in Tehran and Mashhad was therefore no small affair.

The meeting also condemned Iran’s interference in the affairs of sovereign states. This embraced the unwarranted criticism of the verdicts on terrorists of Saudi courts. There was also unstinting disapproval of Iranian support for terrorism. Some of the attacks on Iran’s behavior were blistering.

The Iranian delegation at the Jeddah meeting last week, not surprisingly, did not accept the decision of the OIC foreign ministers. As he arrived, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi had sought to strike a conciliatory note. His country did not want confrontation or escalation, he said. It wanted the meeting to help reduce tensions. But this protest was entirely unconvincing. It was after all Iran that had initiated the diplomatic stress.

And there was no doubting the strength of feeling among those attending the OIC. Only Lebanon chose, unfortunately, not to join the majority view.

The OIC’s final communiqué therefore represented a significant victory for Saudi diplomacy. It demonstrated clearly that the Islamic world is rallying behind Saudi Arabia in opposition to Tehran’s sectarian policies.

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman, chairing a meeting in the Yamamah Palace, welcomed the OIC’s support and its rejection of Iranian interference in Bahrain, Yemen, Syria and Somalia.

The Kingdom’s desire for peace in the region is completely clear. On his visit to Riyadh this week, Chinese President Xi Jinping endorsed the need for peace and an end to terrorism. He also backed the primacy of international law and conventions protecting the sovereignty of countries.

The Iranian government has since apologized for the Tehran and Mashhad outrages. But these were crocodile tears. Iran is a tightly-controlled state. The violation of our diplomatic missions could not have happened without official connivance. This was made clear by the passive behavior of the police and security men on guard. They clearly had been given orders not to interfere with the mob. No doubt there were also intelligence agents in the crowd with instructions to search both missions while the rent-a-rabble trashed the buildings.

The apology was therefore meaningless. As Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir made clear this week, Iran’s leaders needed to change their policies rather than say sorry. If they were sincere in their regrets, they should become good neighbors. They should stop supporting militant groups. They should cease their assassination campaign. And they should end their sponsorship, harboring and protection of terrorists.

Al-Jubeir said that the Iranian government had now been sent three clear messages. The countries of the GCC, then the Arab League and now the OIC had all said that enough was enough. He warned that the Muslim world would not stand for Iran’s conduct. If it did not change its ways, Muslim states would have no option but to take more measures against Tehran.

Ever since its revolution, Iran has always chosen a path of confrontation with the outside world. The narrative for its people has been that they are under constant threat. For three decades this ruse has mostly worked. Though they brought the country to the edge of economic ruin, the international sanctions served to underpin that fiction of constant beleaguerment.

Iran is now financially empowered by the lifting of those sanctions. But with the end of restrictions also disappears the continuing pretense that Iranians are under constant outside threat. Instead they are free to re-engage with the world around them.

Many Iranians must regret the events that led to the Kingdom’s severing diplomatic relations. There is probably a general appreciation that Saudi Arabia represents no threat to them. Indeed they have clear proof of this. Al-Jubeir made it clear that Haj and Umrah would not be affected by the tension. He said that Iranians would continue to be welcome in the Kingdom because pilgrimage was the right of every Muslim. The current political tensions had no bearing on religious issues. The Iranian government must not underestimate the strength of Muslim countries. Its aggression will not be tolerated. It can no longer sponsor violence and bloodshed. It can no longer intervene maliciously in the affairs of other countries. Unless it changes its meddlesome ways, it has much to lose.