In Focus: Persian ambitions Deceived by its anti-imperial slogans, many Arabs do not understand the threat that Iran truly poses, writes Galal Nassar The Arabs are still vulnerable to big words and grand ideologies. They are still thinking with their hearts, not their brains. This is something that political regimes seem to understand. Certain regimes sense the weakness of the masses and use it for their own sake. Instead of changing the current culture and adopting a stance of rationalism, regimes often decide to reinforce current illusions. This is a sign of weakness. Regimes that emphasise doctrine at the expense of reason are usually ones who cannot win fairly at the ballot box. It is easy to turn everything into ideology. It is easy to use big words. Look at nationalism, pan-Arabism and Islam. All have turned into ideologies. All have been taken out of context, detached from reality, and then used to reinforce prejudice and sedition. Even democracy often masquerades as an ideology. There are people who have turned democracy into empty slogans, robbing it of all meaning. One country that is big on ideology is Iran. Iran is combining its penchant for religion with a penchant for nuclear power. The two have become a double-edged sword in its quest for dominance. The Iranians are talking all the time about the missiles they have and the centrifuges they are developing. They have reached the point where nuclear power becomes a rallying point of ideology. This tendency to boast about nuclear capabilities is growing all the time, and reflects the increasing insecurity of the state. Faced with political turmoil and economic hardship, the Iranian regime is under intense domestic pressure. This is why the bragging has become more pitched of late. When Khomeini led the 1979 revolution that brought down the shah regime, many Arabs sympathised with the new regime. They liked its anti-imperialist and anti- Zionist slogans, and were pleased to see the Israeli embassy in Tehran become the Palestinian embassy. Besides, the shah's regime was generally seen as corrupt and a Western puppet. Back then, no one thought of the Islamic revolution as a Persian-Shia expansionary ploy. Arab regimes were quite self-confident at the time of the Iranian revolution. This is why they didn't regard it with suspicion. And Gulf states, secure in their close ties with the West, didn't see the Iranian revolution as a major threat. Arab countries have a tradition of sectarian coexistence. At times, coexistence is -- be it an involuntary affair -- enforced by despotic regimes. At other times, it is a natural reflection of decades of religious tolerance and of common struggle against foreign occupation. So when the Iranian revolution broke out, many Arabs saw it as a quest for liberation rather than a chauvinistic Persian-Shia movement. In its early days, the Iranian revolution gained the sympathy of a large section of Arab and Islamic nations, including Sunnis. One reason for this sympathy is that many nations in this region share a grudge against the West in general and Zionism in particular. Iraqi president Saddam Hussein warned repeatedly of the expansionist goals of Iran and its use of religion as a weapon. But his warnings went unheeded. Arab intellectuals maintained their sympathy with Iran. Many thought that Gulf states who sided with Saddam against Iran were acting as lackeys of the West. Many assumed that Saddam was exaggerating the Iranian threat. It took three wars in the Gulf for the Arabs to start recognising the true face of the Iranian regime, a regime that mainly wants to restore the glory of a Persian empire; a regime that talks religion but is trying to grab the land of its neighbours. Iran is refusing to let go of the three UAE islands -- Lesser Tunb, Greater Tunb, and Abu Moussa -- that it occupies. It calls the Gulf "Persian" and is resentful when we refer to it as "Arab" or even "Islamic". It is trying to turn Shias in various Arab countries against their governments. Under the banner of Islam, Iran provided financial, military, and media assistance to Arab opposition groups from Palestine to Yemen. Tehran helped the US -- the country it once labelled the Great Satan -- destroy Iraq, undermine its territorial integrity, and wreck its sovereignty. And it tried to destroy the national fabric of Bahrain and other Gulf states. Iran's hostility to pan-Arabism can be detected in its verbal bravado, its pledge to fight against colonialism, its promise to destroy Israel, and boasting about its nuclear capabilities and long-range missiles. It is not that Iran doesn't have the right to own nuclear technology. Iran has every right to seek power in any way or form. It isn't Iran's fault that some Arab regimes are jealous of its nuclear programme. It is not that Iran has no right to use religion for purposes of mobilisation and raising morale in the country. So long as this effort stays within its borders, this is something for the Iranians to settle among themselves. Besides, Iran is not mistaken in trying to boost its international status, so long as it doesn't encroach on the rights of other countries in its vicinity. It is when Iran uses religion as a means of interference in the domestic affairs of neighbouring countries that one has to draw the line. It is when Tehran tries to sow sedition in Palestine, Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia that it must be stopped. Iran has been exploiting the Palestinian issue to no end. It played on the feelings of all Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims when it claimed that it is developing its military power in order to destroy Israel. The only thing Iran is interested in is expansionism. Iran speaks about Palestine and Jerusalem while its eyes are set on Iraq, Bahrain, the UAE, and the Arab Gulf. The Iranian regime is not going to risk its strategic interests for the sake of the Palestinians. Iran will go to any length to promote its Persian-Shia project. When the Iranians thought it beneficiary to go into alliance with US imperialism, as was the case in Iraq and Afghanistan, they didn't hesitate to do so. Besides, Iran's best friend in the Gulf is Qatar, home to the biggest US military base in the region. Some people think that Washington is using Arab moderates, especially Egypt and Saudi Arabia, to counter Iran's influence. In my opinion, Washington and the West are actually using Iran to weaken Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Iran and Washington have cooperated to destroy Iraq and now they are trying -- albeit indirectly -- to undermine Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The foreign policy of Egypt and Saudi Arabia may not be particularly aggressive, but these two countries, because of their location and history, may pose more of a future threat to American and Israeli interests than does Iran. Egypt and Saudi Arabia can rally the Arabs behind them. They can rally the Muslims behind them. They can do that because they are both Arab and Sunni. Iran cannot do so. Being Shia and Persian, Iran has no chance of being a true regional leader. In fact, the Persian-Shia scheme is likely to undermine Arab and Islamic unity. Iran's quest for nuclear capabilities, including nuclear weapons, is not inherently vicious. Nuclear power must not remain a monopoly of the big powers or Israel. The problem is that Iran is using its nuclear programme as a ploy to deceive the Arabs and Palestinians. Since the creation of Israel, not one Iranian has died fighting for Palestine or Jerusalem. Iran has done nothing for Jerusalem, a city that is being Judaicised every day. It has done nothing for the West Bank, an area eroded daily by settlements. And it has done nothing for Gaza, which is constantly besieged and attacked. And yet, some Arabs believe Iran's claims. Some Arabs believe that Iran's "Islamic bomb" will save us all. The truth is that we have an "Islamic bomb". Pakistan has one, and yet what good is that bomb? Pakistan's bomb hasn't helped us. It hasn't even helped Pakistan, a country on the verge of civil war. Indeed, Pakistan may find its nuclear programme seized by the international community if things kept deteriorating in the country. So what if Iran acquires nuclear bombs and long- range missiles? This is not going to help the Palestinians. It will not even help the Arabs and the mostly Sunni Muslim world.
