By Xinhua
Beijing : A month after inviting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for the first time to their annual summit, the Gulf states are bracing themselves for the first visit by U.S. President George W. Bush, and hoping to seek leeway amid the tug of war over the oil-rich region between Washington and Tehran.
Unlike Bush, who is on a trip to Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia to rally support against Iran, the Gulf states want their U.S. ally to understand their reasons for maintaining good relations with Tehran.
On Wednesday, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told reporters that Iran is their neighbor in the Gulf, which is a small area, “so we’re keen for harmony and peace among countries in the area.”
“We have relations with Iran and we talk with them, and if we felt any danger we have relations that allow us to talk about it,” the foreign minister said.
The remarks partly explained why Ahmadinejad became the first Iranian president to be invited last month to attend the gathering of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which groups the world’s six top oil exporters — Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain and the UAE.
Having witnessed the consequences of the Iraq war, which has weakened the Arab world, the Gulf states fear another conflict on their doorstep which could be even worse, as their large neighbor holds a more powerful arsenal than Iraq under Saddam Hussein.
As host to U.S. military bases, the Gulf states could be a target in any military confrontation between the United States and Iran. And the danger is real with Bush refusing to rule out the military option despite U.S. intelligence released last month saying that Tehran had halted a secret nuclear weapons program in 2003.
The Gulf states are also fearful of an escalation of tension in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a major oil shipping route off Iran’s coast.
After the recent confrontation incident involving three U.S. Navy warships and five Iranian gunboats in the Strait of Hormuz, the Saudi foreign minister called for restraint.
“We face a constant danger of escalation, so self-restraint is necessary” for all in the region which is very sensitive, especially for the world economy, he said.
The Sunni Arab allies of the United States, in the meantime, remain wary of the influence of their Shiite-dominated neighbor.
The eight-year Iraq-Iran war of the 1980s affected relations between the Sunny Arab states and the Shiite Islamic republic. Until today, feuding is still played out in the sectarian bloodshed between the Shiite and Sunni Muslim communities in Iraq.
In comments on U.S. policy toward Iran, Imad Harb of the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research said the Gulf states welcome the visit by President Bush, but he “must be ready to listen to Arab complaints about how his Iraqi adventure has inadvertently strengthened Iran’s hand in Baghdad and weakened the Arab front against potential Iranian expansion.”
Even at their summit in December, the Gulf Arabs maintained caution after the Iranian president made a series of proposals ranging from opening borders with the GCC to protecting the regional environment.
The group responded in a brief statement, saying it “would study those proposals in a bid to boost good neighborliness and reciprocal respect.”
It has long pressed Tehran to make positive responses to resolve a dispute with the UAE over the three islands of Greater and Lesser Tunbs and Abu Musa at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz.
The GCC members have grave concerns over both Israel’s nuclear power and Iran’s nuclear program, calling for the region to be nuclear free.
The alliance urges Iran to stick to the peaceful nature of its nuclear program and tackle the issue logically with Western countries and Gulf Arab states to avoid tensions that might spill over to devastate the oil-rich region.
The situation is complex where the Gulf states need both Washington and Tehran: the U.S. deterrent power, but not war, to contain Iran’s influence; a channel with Iran for talks to prevent any dangerous confrontation.