Rabat's decision to cut ties with Tehran is an unhelpful response to Iran's growing regional influence, writes Salah Hemeid Morocco cut diplomatic ties with Iran last week, blaming Iran for "harming the religious fundamentals, the identity of the Moroccan people and the unity of their Sunni faith." The kingdom blamed Iran for attempts to spread Shiism in the Sunni-dominated Arab country as a reason for its decision, though the diplomatic bickering started a week earlier when Morocco joined other Arab countries criticising an Iranian statement suggesting it was renewing a claim originally made by the shah of Iran to the Gulf kingdom of Bahrain. The unusually sharp Moroccan reaction highlighted the simmering feud between Sunni Arab countries and Iran over a string of issues including Iran's nuclear ambitions, perceived threats to the Gulf countries and its actions in Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories. Arab states have also expressed concern about overtures by the Obama administration to reach out to Tehran. The recent Arab worries about Iranian intentions flared last month when an Iranian official claimed that Bahrain was an Iranian province as recently as 1971. Bahrain was a British protectorate prior to being granted independence by Britain in 1970. Former Iranian parliament speaker Ali Akbar Nateq Nori's remarks that Bahrain was Iran's 14th province came amidst widespread protests by Bahraini Shia against what they consider an orchestrated government policy of naturalising Sunni Arabs, which the majority Shia in Bahrain fear would change the demographic nature of the country in favour of the minority Sunnis. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad immediately dispatched an envoy to King Hamad bin Issa Al-Khalifa to explain that Nori's statement does not reflect the opinion of the Iranian government, and other Iranian officials stressed that Tehran fully respects Bahrain's sovereignty. But most Arab regimes do not trust non-Arab Iran and there are troubled relations historically between Sunnis and Shia. In recent months Iran has announced plans to boost its presence in the Gulf, especially around the key oil transit routes of the Strait of Hormuz, no doubt in response to threats of attack by Israel and the US -- the French have a military base in Abu Dhabi and the US in Qatar. Recent visits by senior Iranian officials to Iraq indicate that Iran will be a close trade and cultural partner to predominantly Shia Iraq after the US troop withdrawal next year, which does not sit well with Arab regimes. At an Arab foreign ministers' meeting last week Saudi Arabia's foreign minister called on his Arab counterparts to forge a common vision to deal with what he called the "Iranian challenge". Prince Saud Al-Faisal said that resolving problems among Arabs depends on a joint position regarding Iran's stance on Gulf security and its nuclear programme. The Saudi minister was obviously referring to the alliances Iran has managed to forge with Syria, Hizbullah and Hamas. Echoing the Saudi warning, Egyptian foreign minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit accused Iran of attempting to impose regional hegemony. Abul-Gheit told Egyptian television Thursday that Iran is "manipulating Arab states and entities to increase its influence in the region in order to achieve some goals, including easing the pressure on its nuclear programme and to be a key partner, sitting with Arabs at one table to make deals on Arab issues." Iranian President Ahmadinejad, reacting to the Moroccan decision, dismissed the Arab worries as caused by "a campaign of disinformation" and warned Arabs against falling into "the enemy's trap". Commenting on Al-Faisal's statement, his Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki advised Saudi Arabia to "avoid making statements which would not serve the goals of Arab and Islamic states. It was surprising that the Saudi prince has referred to Iran as 'a challenge'", Mottaki said, adding that the prince has "distanced himself from realism" in his comments. "Those suggestions have obviously no place in the conscience and public opinions of the Arab and Islamic world," Mottaki stressed. The verbal exchange also came after Iran hosted a two- day conference last week to probe ways to provide assistance to Hamas after an international conference in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh gave a powerful boost to Hamas rival Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. In the opening address, Iran's spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blasted moderate Arab states which advocate a peace settlement with Israel and clearly stated a new vigorous Iranian foreign policy which will consider the Palestinian issue an Islamic issue and not only an Arab one. Ahmadinejad denounced the meeting in Egypt saying that the "difference between the two conferences is like that between Satan and man." Meanwhile, attempts by the Obama administration to open a dialogue with Iran has exacerbated fears among Arabs that the US might strike a deal with Iran at their expense. While Obama needs Iranian cooperation on Iraq and Afghanistan, Arab powerhouses, particularly Egypt and Saudi Arabia, fear that improving relations with Iran will help to end its isolation. At a meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Sharm El-Sheikh, her eight Arab counterparts raised their concerns about the administration's proposed dialogue with Iran being undertaken without consulting them. Clinton assured UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan in a private meeting that Washington "will keep its eyes wide open on Iran". She promised that the US would move forward on relations with Iran only in consultation with Washington's Arab allies. With the elimination of Saddam Hussein's Sunni Arab regime after the 2003 US invasion of Iraq and the coming to power of Iraq's Shias, Arab regimes in Egypt and Saudi Arabia see in Iran's increasing influence an attempt to create a "Shia crescent", posing a challenge to the status quo. Arab Shias are part and parcel of the region's historic, pan-Arab and Islamic identity, and like Sunnis, they are citizens of these countries. Arab countries must be careful not to conflate containing Iran with containing Shiism. If they do, they will entrench sectarianism in the region and will make Iran's "Shia crescent" a reality. And as the diplomatic crisis over Iran's allegations over Bahrain has illustrated, this further empowers Iran, which is then seen as the champion of Shia causes in the world. Iran's ambitions are much simpler and can be defined in terms of its national interest. Whether in its nuclear programme or in advancing other regional ambitions Iran is building its regional power in the face of US/Israeli threats and not primarily as an advocate of Arab Shia interests. Facing their new reality, Arab states perhaps have reason for concern, but they have to look for a more realistic approach. The head of the Arab League Amr Moussa was right when he renewed his calls for talks with Iran. "I still think that the issue requires a broad Arab-Iranian dialogue to resolve all the outstanding problems," he said Monday.
