Global Arab Network | Leading Troubles - Iran Expanding Regional Influence Amid Mideast Turmoil

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Leading Troubles - Iran Expanding Regional Influence Amid Mideast Turmoil

Global Arab Network - Gerlinde Gerber

Wednesday, 30 March 2011 13:47

Iran is trying to shape events in a changing Middle East as part of an ongoing effort to establish the Islamic Republic's regional influence and status, US and Arab officials say.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said earlier this month that "either directly or through proxies" such as Hezbollah and Hamas, Iran is "constantly trying to influence events" in Egypt, Bahrain and Yemen. [1]

At the same time, Syrian opposition sources said Iran had sent units of the Revolutionary Guard and Hezbollah to help Tehran's ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, suppress anti-regime protests in his country. [2]

"Iran undermines peace and stability in the Gulf"

Last month, Shiite-led protests broke out in Bahrain, a tiny island kingdom in the oil-rich Gulf.

The kingdom's Sunni rulers accused Shiite Iran of meddling in Bahrain and other Arab Gulf states. Bahrain's king, Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa, said last week a "foreign plot" against his state had been foiled. [3]

Fatima al-Beloushi, Bahrain's Minister for Social Development, calmed the demonstrators had links to a "neighboring country" and Hezbollah, a Lebanese Iran-backed terrorist movement.

"We have direct proof. Hezbollah has provided training for their people. They were serving a foreign agenda", she said. [4]

Notably, Iran has occasionally stated that Bahrain is the Islamic Republic's "14th province".

The Al Khalifa royal family is Sunni, while up to 70 percent of Bahrain's 600,000 citizens are Shiite. The Shiite population has long complained of being marginalized and discriminated against economically and politically, and the overwhelming majority of Bahrain's protesters are therefore Shiite.

Bahrain was the first country experiencing the recent wave of unrest across the Arab world which the divide between Sunni and Shiite Muslims has emerged in a meaningful way, causing alarm among the Sunni rulers of other Gulf countries with significant Shiite minorities. [5]

Fearing the spread of Shiite unrest to their countries, as well as the possibility that Iran would have more opportunities to meddle in the region, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states sent troops to Bahrain to help quell the protests.

In the meantime, a Kuwaiti newspaper reported that Arab Gulf states are considering a plan to deport thousands of Lebanese Shiites over their alleged links to Hezbollah and Iran's Revolutionary Guard force.

Al-Seyassah, known for its strong anti-Hezbollah and anti-Iranian stance, said that Lebanese Shiites had been involved in protests in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province. [6]

If confirmed, this will not be the first wave of mass deportations of Lebanese Shiites from Gulf countries in the past two years. According to various reports, hundreds of Lebanese Shiites and Palestinians were expelled from the UAE for security reasons in summer 2009.

Bahrain has considerable strategic value to the US as well, as the base of its Fifth Fleet, which protects American interests in the region and assures the continued flow of oil from the Gulf to the West.

"The United States has an abiding commitment to Gulf security and a top priority is working together with our partners on our shared concerns about Iranian behavior in the region", US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said lately.

"We share the view that Iran's activities in the Gulf, including its efforts to advance its agenda in neighboring countries, undermine peace and stability". [7]

"Iranians very much involved in Yemen"

While protesters are demanding his ouster, Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh faces further challenges posed by al-Qaeda, a secessionist movement in the south and the Shiite Houthi rebels in the north.

Since the renewal of hostilities between the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels in 2009, Yemeni and Saudi officials have repeatedly accused Iran of providing the Shiite rebels with money, arms and training.

Whereas experts are divided on whether Tehran is indeed involved in internal Yemeni affairs, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently told the Senate Appropriations Committee that the US knows that "the Iranians are very much involved in the opposition movements in Yemen". [8]

"Farsi-speaking commandos help suppress protests in Syria"

Although Iran voiced support for demonstrators in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain and Yemen, it found itself in a different situation with the unrest in Syria, which stands alone as an ally of Iran among the Arab states.

Syrian opposition sources accused the Islamic Republic of sending units of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and Hezbollah to help suppress the anti-Assad protests that broke out earlier this month. [9]

According to reports from Daraa, where protests in Syria began, several Farsi-speaking commandos were captured in the city.

The Revolutionary Guard also played a key role in crushing the 2009 street demonstrations in Iran, which broke out after the controversial re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. (Realite-EU)

References

[1] "Iran contacting Arab opposition movements: Clinton", AFP, March 2, 2011, http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iAPeQ5TXpjqKZuPapL-F49WA4gNg?docId=CNG.4103fec93a330f1c195d92e86c2ce8c3.b91

[2] "Iran's IRGC attacks anti-Assad protesters in Syria", World Tribune, March 21, 2011, http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2011/me_iran0311_03_21.asp

[3] "Bahrain says it has foiled 'foreign plot'", Reuters, March 22, 2011, http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-03-22/middle-east/29173794_1_shias-isa-al-khalifa-king-hamad-bin

[4] "Bahrain minister points to Iran link to unrest", Reuters, March 25, 2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/25/us-bahrain-protests-minister-idUSTRE72O39120110325

[5] "Wave of Unrest Rolls Into Gulf", The Wall Street Journal, February 16, 2011,http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704409004576145711833269124.html

[6] "Gulf states 'to deport Hezbollah, Iranian agents", AFP, March 24, 2011, 'http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iIEIJQlxGmMjFunxbJB-_L9ycStA?docId=CNG.3e3ed7e3434b06408e36d7c289534e29.441

[7] http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2011/03/158658.htm

[8] "Iran contacting Arab opposition movements: Clinton", AFP, March 2, 2011, http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iAPeQ5TXpjqKZuPapL-F49WA4gNg?docId=CNG.4103fec93a330f1c195d92e86c2ce8c3.b91

[9] "Iran's IRGC attacks anti-Assad protesters in Syria", World Tribune, March 21, 2011, http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2011/me_iran0311_03_21.asp

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