Dr. Khaled M. Batarfi
“Why are the Gulf states so against dialogue with Iran? You need each other to face the dangers and threats against our Arab security system, and its enemies like the US, Europe, Russia, Turkey and Israel,» an Algerian journalist asked at the Janadriya Festival in Riyadh last week.
I told him that I do not agree with his ideas about who is and who is not a present and clear danger to the Arab world. Turkey, for example, is a strong ally that can help us, in the absence of Iraq and Syria, to “contain” the greatest danger of all - terrorism and its sponsors in Tehran.
However, first let’s talk about the determinants of the Gulf’s relationship with Iran, which are becoming more apparent by the day.
There are five major determinants of our relationship with our Persian neighbor. The first is the Arabian Gulf security and stability. Iran still looks down on its Arab neighbors and regards them as small Arab emirates, with cash but no heritage, and having no real constituents of continuity.
Therefore, it has decided to deal directly with what it calls «the peoples of the region,» ignoring their governments. By that, it means the Shiite minorities which it considers “vulnerable and disadvantaged,” and in dire need of support and enablement.
Thus, Iran’s concept of Gulf security inevitably conflicts with its Arab neighbors. Here we believe in maximizing gains and global influence by focusing on development, profitable partnerships, and political, economic and military alliances. We fully engage with world organizations, respect international agreements and generously contribute to improve global security, peaceful coexistence, health and prosperity. This includes respecting national sovereignty and not interfering in the affairs of others.
The second determinant is the stark difference in the political, ideological and ethnic composition of the two parties. Iran is a Shiite Persian republic that has adopted a constitution that advocates exporting revolution and using religion to extend the country’s influence and achieve geopolitical interests. Iran has built permanent alliances with governments and sectarian militias, such as Iraq, Syria, and rogue regimes like North Korea, and anti-West socialist regimes, such as Russia, Cuba and Venezuela.
On the other side of the equation, the Gulf countries are Sunni Arab states allied with Arab as well as key Islamic nations such as Turkey, Pakistan and Malaysia. They have chosen to build alliances and partnerships with great Western and Eastern powers like America, Britain, France, China, India and South Korea.
The third determinant of the relationship between the Gulf states and Iran is Tehran’s nuclear ambitions that threaten the security of the Gulf, as well as its environment, if we consider that the Bushehr reactor is located on the opposite bank of the Gulf and uses more backward technology than that which led to the Russian Chernobyl reactor disaster in 1986.
The fourth determinant is Iran›s pre-Islam Sasanian ambitions to rule many parts of the Arab world (Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Egypt, Bahrain and other Gulf countries). This is a project envisioned by the Khomeini revolution and is still a work in progress.
The fifth determinant is the Iranian self-concept of being a global religious state under their concept of «Al-Wali Al-Faqih,» (a parallel to the Daesh and Al-Qaeda Islamic caliphate concept), and to be the reference of all Shiites in the world.
Facing all these challenges and existential threats which increased under President Obama›s administration and its overt and covert understandings with the mullahs› regime, we had to build Arab and Islamic alliances to address those risks. Fortunately, Western winds have changed with the new US administration and Britain and Europe stand in support of their traditional Arab allies.
After a lot of aggressive, hate speech, Iran now returns to talk about dialogue, cooperation and good neighborly relations. The problem is that these words do not match Tehran’s deeds, and even contradict its own speech.
Therefore, I believe the Gulf states have no option but to continue to solidify their defense and build alliances to deal with Iran’s subversive activities and sponsorship of terrorism, while keeping the door open for a peaceful Iran focused on development, cooperation and bridge building without interference in our affairs or expanding outside its borders.
- Dr. Khaled M. Batarfi is a Saudi writer based in Jeddah. He can be reached at kbatarfi@gmail.com. Follow him at Twitter:@kbatarfi
