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Expose a US Mind-War Weapon: Iran
November 29, 2010
Tehran. Iran’s president said on Monday that leaked American diplomatic memos recounting Arab calls for the United States to launch a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities were intended to stir “mischief.”
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad described the memos as false and a form of US-led psychological warfare against Iran.
According to the memos, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia repeatedly urged the United States to attack Iran to destroy its nuclear program to stop Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon.
“We don’t give any value to these documents,” Ahmadinejad said. “It’s without legal value. Iran and regional states are friends. Such acts of mischief have no impact on relations between nations.”
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Arab nations just across the Persian Gulf are known to be wary of Iran’s rising regional influence, military power and nuclear activity. The leaked documents, however, reveal a much higher degree of alarm in the calls for US military action.
The United States has helped some Arab nations in the Gulf increase their anti-missile defenses and has a naval presence in the region.
The cables contrast with the public stance of those Sunni rulers whose statements on their religious rivals in Shiite Iran and its nuclear program have until now been far more conciliatory.
From Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, to tiny Bahrain, Gulf Arab rulers revealed a reality they had spent years trying to hide publicly.
The revelations confirm the depth of suspicion and hatred of the Shiites among Sunni Arab leaders, especially in Saudi Arabia — the leading Sunni power — which regards Iran as an existential threat.
That concern was intensified by the rise of the Shiites in Iraq after the US-led invasion of 2003 — the first time the Shiites have controlled an Arab heartland country for nearly a millennium.
For Sunni Gulf rulers, seeing Iraq fall under Shiite influence was shocking enough, but the fear of a nuclear Iran is something they find even more alarming.
According to the leaked cables, Saudi King Abdullah repeatedly exhorted the United States to “cut off the head of the snake” by launching military strikes to destroy Iran’s nuclear program. He never publicly called on Washington to use force against Iran.
The Bahraini king said Iran’s nuclear program should be halted by any means, and the crown prince of Abu Dhabi saw “the logic of war dominating” when it comes to dealing with Iran.
Saudi analyst Khaled al-Dakhil said the cables were a reminder of the deep mistrust between Iran and Saudi Arabia as well as other Gulf Arab states.
“I don’t think Iran takes at face value public declarations coming from the Gulf, whether for a war or not — just as Gulf leaders do not believe declarations about how peaceful the Iranian nuclear program is,” he said.
“Iran should take note of the distress that its nuclear program is causing in the region — this is not something that should be ignored,” Salman Shaikh of the Brookings Doha Center said.
AP, Reuters, AFP
November 29, 2010
Tehran. Iran’s president said on Monday that leaked American diplomatic memos recounting Arab calls for the United States to launch a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities were intended to stir “mischief.”
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad described the memos as false and a form of US-led psychological warfare against Iran.
According to the memos, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia repeatedly urged the United States to attack Iran to destroy its nuclear program to stop Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon.
“We don’t give any value to these documents,” Ahmadinejad said. “It’s without legal value. Iran and regional states are friends. Such acts of mischief have no impact on relations between nations.”
--
Arab nations just across the Persian Gulf are known to be wary of Iran’s rising regional influence, military power and nuclear activity. The leaked documents, however, reveal a much higher degree of alarm in the calls for US military action.
The United States has helped some Arab nations in the Gulf increase their anti-missile defenses and has a naval presence in the region.
The cables contrast with the public stance of those Sunni rulers whose statements on their religious rivals in Shiite Iran and its nuclear program have until now been far more conciliatory.
From Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, to tiny Bahrain, Gulf Arab rulers revealed a reality they had spent years trying to hide publicly.
The revelations confirm the depth of suspicion and hatred of the Shiites among Sunni Arab leaders, especially in Saudi Arabia — the leading Sunni power — which regards Iran as an existential threat.
That concern was intensified by the rise of the Shiites in Iraq after the US-led invasion of 2003 — the first time the Shiites have controlled an Arab heartland country for nearly a millennium.
For Sunni Gulf rulers, seeing Iraq fall under Shiite influence was shocking enough, but the fear of a nuclear Iran is something they find even more alarming.
According to the leaked cables, Saudi King Abdullah repeatedly exhorted the United States to “cut off the head of the snake” by launching military strikes to destroy Iran’s nuclear program. He never publicly called on Washington to use force against Iran.
The Bahraini king said Iran’s nuclear program should be halted by any means, and the crown prince of Abu Dhabi saw “the logic of war dominating” when it comes to dealing with Iran.
Saudi analyst Khaled al-Dakhil said the cables were a reminder of the deep mistrust between Iran and Saudi Arabia as well as other Gulf Arab states.
“I don’t think Iran takes at face value public declarations coming from the Gulf, whether for a war or not — just as Gulf leaders do not believe declarations about how peaceful the Iranian nuclear program is,” he said.
“Iran should take note of the distress that its nuclear program is causing in the region — this is not something that should be ignored,” Salman Shaikh of the Brookings Doha Center said.
AP, Reuters, AFP
