Iran threatens Arabs as much as Islamic State: Bahrain FM

[Devil Soul]

Iran threatens Arabs as much as Islamic State: Bahrain FM
REUTERS — PUBLISHED 14 MINUTES AGO

MANAMA: Iranian support for subversion in Arab states is as big a threat to the region as the self-styled Islamic State (IS) group, Bahrain's Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed Al Khalifa said on Saturday at a security conference in Manama.

"These actions are no less a threat to us than Daesh," he said, using the Arabic acronym for the group and accusing Iran of smuggling arms into Bahrain.

He added that the Houthi militia in Yemen, which Gulf states are fighting and accuse of being a proxy for Iran, which the group and Tehran both deny, can have a future in the country so long as it disarms and participates in a political solution.

US focused on 'objectionable' Iranian actions in wake of nuclear deal
US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Saturday the United States remained "laser focussed" on what he called objectionable Iranian actions including support of terrorism in the region in the wake of its nuclear deal with major powers.

Addressing the annual Manama Dialogue regional security conference in Bahrain, he added that US engagement in the Middle East, while deeper than ever, was broad and went beyond the military aspect. There was no military solution to Syria's war, he said.

On Yemen, Blinken said citizens in dire need there could not afford to wait longer for peace, and it was incumbent "on all concerned" to allow humanitarian aid to reach all who required it.

 

[Hussain Farooqui]

The Sunnis and the Shias of Bahrain have been living in perfect harmony. Hasan Al Houti and his group will be supported by Iran as long as the interests of Iran rest in that region. Iran may then stop supporting them. The common Shias of Yemen then will be troubled unnecessarily.

 

[FULL_METAL]

So, is it fair to say that Iran is the main enemy of the Arab world now, not ISIS or Israel ?

PS: I am a noob at middle eastern affairs

 

[vsdoc]

Iran is surrounded by Sunni nations.

In fact I do not think there is another Shia nation out there.

Why has this been a problem all these years? Especially the sanctions era?

Why not just gang up together and go in and have it out with them once and for all?

Asking as a total noobie to ME politics and dynamics of course. Especially the military balance angle. But how much of a threat or credible deterrent could a small non-nuclear nation state of 70 odd million people be?

 

[bdslph]

the guy is smoking too much weeds like they got the one in saudi prince plane
iran was never threat to any one

 

[SiCiSi]

Auditioning for the next Israeli FM

 

[raptor22]

 

[libertad]

Iran is surrounded by Sunni nations.

In fact I do not think there is another Shia nation out there.

Why has this been a problem all these years? Especially the sanctions era?

Why not just gang up together and go in and have it out with them once and for all?

Asking as a total noobie to ME politics and dynamics of course. Especially the military balance angle. But how much of a threat or credible deterrent could a small non-nuclear nation state of 70 odd million people be?

Let me try to brush you up on the conflict, albeit with a little bias.

We have an order of majority Sunni Middle Eastern Arab countries (except Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and Neutral Oman), NATO and Israel, fighting against Iran, Syria and Russia. The Arab regimes hate Assad in Syria because he is aligned with Iran. Assad is also an Alawi which is part of Shia branch of Islam so there is a sectarian element to this conflict. There is also a secular vs Islamist element to the Syrian war. Majority of Syrians are Sunni including the Military, but many Sunnis support Assad and the Army because they are secular and the opponents mostly want an Islamic government. Israel of course hates Assad because he is a bridge between Iran and Hezbollah (An Iranian supported Shia militia based in South Lebanon that is a sworn enemy of Israel). Israel is also illegally occupying Syrian territory so they are very invested in more chaos and discord that way they can keep illegally occupied land and even sieze more land.

Syria and Iran have a defense treaty just like the members of NATO so Iran are assisting the Assad government. The Arab regimes see this and say Iran is imperializing, but as I mentioned earlier, they have a defense treaty. Hezbollah, the Iranian proxy has also joined the war in the North of Syria on Assad's side to protect their conduit. The Arab regimes are terrified of Shia Iran and have armed many insurgents to fight Assad in Syria. NATO has always had a hard on for Iran because of the Islamic revolution, nuclear program and also because they are a thorn on Israel's side so US, UK, France have all been arming and training insurgents to fight Assad. Syria's neighbors Turkey and Jordan has also joined the war against Assad by arming insurgents and hosting training centers for them. Russia has always been on friendly terms with Assad and have a naval base in Syria. They support Syria and recently started bombing ISIS and FSA.

In short Arab regimes, despite drowning in cash are simply incapable of dealing with Iran without NATO assistance. We now see them aligning with anyone as long as they are opposed to Iran. The Arab regimes are even on friendly terms with Israel and are quite content to turn their backs on the Palestinians. Iran worries them that much.

The Arab regimes are also worried about the majority Shia Arab countries of Iraq and Bahrain that would align with Iran. ISIS managed to capture majority Sunni Northern Iraq and the Iraqi government is fighting to reclaim those territories. The Sunni Arab regimes claim to hate ISIS but I suspect secretly they are happy ISIS is keeping the Iraqis busy and preventing them from bolstering the Shia Iran alliance. In Bahrain we have a forgotten revolution. The majority Shia population are being ruled by a Sunni, Saudi propped monarch. There are weekly demonstrations by the people there that go largely ignored by western hypocritical media. Democracy for Syria but not for Bahrain it seems. Hope that wraps it all up in a neat bow for you.

 

[vsdoc]

Let me try to brush you up on the conflict, albeit with a little bias.

We have an order of majority Sunni Middle Eastern Arab countries (except Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and Neutral Oman), NATO and Israel, fighting against Iran, Syria and Russia. The Arab regimes hate Assad in Syria because he is aligned with Iran. Assad is also an Alawi which is part of Shia branch of Islam so there is a sectarian element to this conflict. There is also a secular vs Islamist element to the Syrian war. Majority of Syrians are Sunni including the Military, but many Sunnis support Assad and the Army because they are secular and the opponents mostly want an Islamic government. Israel of course hates Assad because he is a bridge between Iran and Hezbollah (An Iranian supported Shia militia based in South Lebanon that is a sworn enemy of Israel). Israel is also illegally occupying Syrian territory so they are very invested in more chaos and discord that way they can keep illegally occupied land and even sieze more land.

Syria and Iran have a defense treaty just like the members of NATO so Iran are assisting the Assad government. The Arab regimes see this and say Iran is imperializing, but as I mentioned earlier, they have a defense treaty. Hezbollah, the Iranian proxy has also joined the war in the North of Syria on Assad's side to protect their conduit. The Arab regimes are terrified of Shia Iran and have armed many insurgents to fight Assad in Syria. NATO has always had a hard on for Iran because of the Islamic revolution, nuclear program and also because they are a thorn on Israel's side so US, UK, France have all been arming and training insurgents to fight Assad. Syria's neighbors Turkey and Jordan has also joined the war against Assad by arming insurgents and hosting training centers for them. Russia has always been on friendly terms with Assad and have a naval base in Syria. They support Syria and recently started bombing ISIS and FSA.

In short Arab regimes, despite drowning in cash are simply incapable of dealing with Iran without NATO assistance. We now see them aligning with anyone as long as they are opposed to Iran. The Arab regimes are even on friendly terms with Israel and are quite content to turn their backs on the Palestinians. Iran worries them that much.

The Arab regimes are also worried about the majority Shia Arab countries of Iraq and Bahrain that would align with Iran. ISIS managed to capture majority Sunni Northern Iraq and the Iraqi government is fighting to reclaim those territories. The Sunni Arab regimes claim to hate ISIS but I suspect secretly they are happy ISIS is keeping the Iraqis busy and preventing them from bolstering the Shia Iran alliance. In Bahrain we have a forgotten revolution. The majority Shia population are being ruled by a Sunni, Saudi propped monarch. There are weekly demonstrations by the people there that go largely ignored by western hypocritical media. Democracy for Syria but not for Bahrain it seems. Hope that wraps it all up in a neat bow for you.

Thanks bro. Best ME for Dummies I've read to date by far.

You've still though not answered why Sunni Arab states that surround Iran are still fighting Iran in Syria - where everyone is fighting anyways.

Why are they not concertedly attacking Iran IN Iran??

 

[ultron]

Why are they not concertedly attacking Iran IN Iran??

Iran is an Indo European country. An attack on Iran = an attack on all Indo Europeans, that's Europe, Russia, North America, South America, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Armenia etc.

 

[libertad]

Thanks bro. Best ME for Dummies I've read to date by far.

You've still though not answered why Sunni Arab states that surround Iran are still fighting Iran in Syria - where everyone is fighting anyways.

Why are they not concertedly attacking Iran IN Iran??

They can't attack Iran without significant damage done to themselves so the only way they can fight is by proxy. Syria is a proxy war. They have done everything in their power short of attacking Iran. Saudi Arabia even gave Israel permission to use its airspace if they needed to bomb Iran. They have also been unhappy with the nuclear deal so Iran is their nightmare obsession at the moment.

 

[MEAGAN FOXSS]

Absolutely agree I agree with Bahraini FM. Iran's is a enemy of Arabs per say due to their inferiority complex . . . . . . . .

 

[vsdoc]

Iran is an Indo European country. An attack on Iran = an attack on all Indo Europeans, that's Europe, Russia, North America, South America, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Armenia etc.

Indo-European - is that what they're calling Aryan these days ? Must get with the program .

If so, Indo-Europeans quite happily butchered each other on an industrial scale in the two world wars.

I do think its a Russian reprisal that has always kept the US and its allies and other leaders of its camp away and suitably wary.

 

[alarabi]

They used to say مرك بر إسرائيل which means Death to Israel , Right now they are saying مرك بر عرب Death to Arab instead.

Aytulla clerks and people help in spreading terrorism thoughts and hating other ethnicities among Iranians. If you want to know more about how Savavids do that you can check out
Nasser Pourpirar's books in Arabic ناصر بوربيرار, who is an Iranian historian wrote about the Savavid way in destroying other ethnicities in Iran by fabricating history and claiming that superiority is only for Farsi and Savavid people but no one else in Iran!

 

[Madali]

Thanks bro. Best ME for Dummies I've read to date by far.

You've still though not answered why Sunni Arab states that surround Iran are still fighting Iran in Syria - where everyone is fighting anyways.

Why are they not concertedly attacking Iran IN Iran??

Most of these Gulf Countries wouldn't be able to sustain an actual war fare. Iran was at war with Saddam for 8 years so they are used to long war. Plus, our population is now double when we were fighting Saddam.

If the gulfies attack Iran, we can hold on a defensive position like we did back in the 80s, but would the gulf be able to survive with instability? Take Bahrain, its a country of 500,000 population. Iran population is 80 million!
Or take countries like Qatar and UAE. The have high expatriates and rely heavily on foreign business investments. Imagine a few retaliation missle strikes hitting the business districts in UAE or Qatar. Everyone would leave the countries, throwing the nations into economic depression.

UAE's demographic makeup is 90% expatriates. Imagine these people leaving. Who will remain?

In the 80s, they got very lucky with an idiot like Saddam, who the west and gulfies supported to fight on their behalf. Two decades later, Saddam is in the grave, and Iraqis are now our allies. There is no one else to push forward to attack Iran on their behalf, excited to supporting terrorist groups, but so far, Iran has been able to nuetralize those threats.