By Nader Habibi
In light of the mounting
U.S. hostilities and the
ongoing danger of a U.S.
military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities, one would expect
Iran to avoid any unnecessary
provocation in its relations with the international community. Yet, on several
occasions in recent years, Iranian officials and state-controlled media have
made highly provocative statements, which cannot be justified as being
beneficial to Iran's foreign policy objectives.
During 2006 and 2007 President
Ahmadinejad made several statements about Israel and Holocaust which were immediately
picked up by Western media as evidence of Iran's hostile intentions toward
Israel. These statements were used by
several American and European politicians to argue that Iran cannot be
trusted with any type of nuclear technology. President Ahmadinejad's questioning
of Holocaust and of Israel's
right to exist as an independent nation in the Middle East, have caused
significant damage to Iran's image. They have also made it
easier for the United States
to obtain international support for economic sanctions against
Iran.
The international condemnation of
these statements has not been limited the United
States and Israel. The European countries and
many developing countries have also condemned them. Even the Arab countries that
are locked in a decades-long conflict with Israel did not
offer any support for these statements. In an open letter to Mr. Ahmadinejad on
December 2006, the Palestinian activist Mahmoud al-Sadafi announced that denial
of Holocaust was a disservice to the Palestinian struggle. (1) This letter was
released in response to Iran's sponsorship of a conference on
Holocaust in late 2006 which also provoked worldwide condemnation.
In another unnecessary provocation
the Kayhan newspaper, which is closely linked to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenie,
published a commentary about Bahrain which immediately led to
protests and official condemnations by Bahraini government. In this commentary
the editor of Kayhan, Hossein Shariatmadari, claimed that majority of Bahraini
citizens want their country to be reunited with Iran. (A
majority of Bahrain's population is shia and some
are of Iranian origin.) He also questioned the legitimacy of the British-Iranian
negotiations that led to Bahrain's independence in 1970 after
being under British protection for decades. These statements were made in response to
the latest Gulf Cooperation Council's statement of support for the UAE's claim
to three disputed Islands in Persian Gulf.
These islands are currently under Iranian control. The article further argued that in light
of the historical ties of Bahrain (a member of GCC) with
Iran, it should not have supported
this declaration.
The strong response of
Bahrain and other GCC countries to
this July 9th article took the Iranian government by surprise. Mr.
Shariatmadari should have realized that when he claims that a majority of
Bahrainis want to be part of Iran, Bahraini officials interpret
this statement as a reference to the Shiite segment of their population and
consider it an attempt to stir up ethnic trouble. It is then no wonder that they
are reacting with such a severity.
In an effort to prevent this
controversy from damaging its fragile relations with GCC countries
Iran sent the foreign
minister, Manouchehr Motakki to Bahrain on July 15th. The
government further distanced itself from the article and announced that it has
no territorial claims to Bahrain and fully respects its
sovereignty.
The July 9th article was
an unnecessary provocation that should have been avoided. It comes at a time
when Iran and the
United
States are both competing for the attention of
GCC countries. The United
States is trying to convince these countries that they need
to join Egypt and
Jordan in forming an alliance
against the growing influence of Iran in the Middle
East. Through repeated visits to GCC capitals in recent months
Iranian officials have tried to convince the GCC countries that
Iran poses no threat to them
and discourage them from joining an anti-Iranian alliance with the
United
States.
Unfortunately while the government
of Iran is trying to control the damage from this article, Mr. Shariatmadari has
defended his claims in a follow up article (2) In this article he also shames the
GCC governments for their close ties with the United States and betrayal of the Palestinian struggle.
While such statements might appeal to the radical segments of Arab populations,
they will further alienate the GCC governments from Iran. In order
to preserve its nuclear program and its territorial integrity in these critical
times, Iran must avoid all unnecessary
provocations in its international relations.
1) See: http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2062488.ece
2) See: Kayhanint.com "What Are You Up to?! ",
July 17, 2007) .
About the author: Nader Habibi is a faculty of
Crown Center for Middle East Studies and Department of
Economics at Brandeis University.
(nhabibi@brandies.edu)
... Payvand News - 7/17/07 ...
