The reason of the peaceful Iranian nuclear program

Well, it looks like so. From Realite-UE free newsletter:

As Iran moves ahead with its nuclear ambitions other countries in the Gulf are pushing forward with their own plans to go nuclear. [1] Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have all indicated interest in developing nuclear programs. [2]

Nowhere is the concern over Iran’s nuclear ambition felt more strongly than among Iran’s Arab neighbors in the Persian Gulf region. While they watch uneasily for signs of Iranian nuclear progress, Saudis and Emiratis will continue to spend billions of dollars on ballistic missile defense systems. [3]

The Gulf States have ambivalent relations with Iran. While Iran is seen a strategic threat it is also a trading partner and possible Mideast regional leader. Statements and actions by Gulf leaders reflect this ambiguity.

Bahrain

• In September 2009, Commander-in-chief of the Bahrain Defense Force, Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, said Iran is an important country that greatly influences regional security and stability. Sheikh Al-Khalifa and Iranian ambassador to Bahrain Hossein Amir Abdollahian discussed Tehran-Manama relations and called for an expansion in cooperation especially in military spheres. [4]
• In June 2009, Bahrain closed the newspaper Akhbar al-Khaleej after it published an article heavily critical of the Iranian government. [5]
• Bahrain has supported using diplomacy to resolve the conflict over Iran’s nuclear program though Iran’s uranium enrichment has complicated relations between Iran and Bahrain. Bahrain is an ally of the United States. [6]
• In 2007, Manama and Tehran discussed increasing annual trade to $1 billion per year and bolstering their joint health and tourism cooperation. Both countries proposed a large purchase of Iranian oil to help fuel Bahraini development in May 2008. [“Bahrain-Iran Cooperation Hailed,” Bahrain News Agency, December 26, 2007; “Bahrain Eyes Gas Imports From Iran,” Press TV, May 27, 2008]
• In March 2008, the United States Treasury Department announced sanctions against Future Bank B.S.C, a Bahraini Bank accusing of helping Iran’s alleged nuclear proliferation activities. Future Bank B.S.C. is controlled by Iran’s Bank Melli, which is sanctioned “for facilitating Iran’s proliferation activities.” [8]
• Bahrain turned down financial and technical support that Iran offered in October 2007 to help Bahrain establish its own civilian nuclear energy program. [Tourmi, Habib: “Bahrain Rejects Nuclear Assistance by Iran,” Gulf News, October 24, 2007]

Kuwait

• Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah congratulated Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June 2009, after his re-election. Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah described Iran as Kuwait’s friend and expressed hope that Kuwait and Iran and would continue to expand their relationship in all fields. [10] This, despite the fact that Kuwait has been a major allay of Washington since the 1991 Gulf War.
• Kuwait’s government has declared it will not allow its territories to be used for military action against Iran. [11]
• Kuwait and Iran held their first Economic Commission in January 2008 in order to create a platform for more financial connections between the countries. [12]
• Renowned Kuwaiti author Abdullah Al-Hadlaq has urged the Gulf States to suspend their diplomatic relations with Iran and deal with its real agenda. He insisted that the country’s nuclear program was not adopted for peaceful purposes despite Iran’s pretence that it was, in reality being a military program. [13]

Oman

• Oman has accelerated its cooperation with Tehran, nurturing an alliance that helps empower Iran while highlighting the deep divisions among Arab capitals. Oman has refused overtures of its larger neighbors to pull away from Iran. [14]
• Oman sees Iran as an important political and economic ally that is “too powerful and too potentially dangerous to ignore, let alone antagonize.” Oman has for years helped Iranian smugglers circumvent international trade sanctions. [Ibid]
• In August 2009, Oman and Iran signed an agreement for security cooperation. The deal covers exchange of information and combating infiltration, smuggling and other crimes. [16]
• The Oman Oil Company (OOC) and Hirbodan EPC of Iran signed a Memorandum of Understanding to build a power plant at the Queshm Free Zone in Iran. Oman’s Sultan Qaboos bin Said said the agreement reflected the “depth of relations between the two countries.” [Ibid]

Qatar

• Qatar, an ally of the United States, has been outspoken against Iran’s nuclear enrichment program. [18] However, Qatar has rejected the Security Council’s resolutions against Iran, calling them counterproductive. [“First Target For Iran: Qatar?,” Middle East Times, November 26, 2007]
• In January 2009, Qatar, Iran and Russia met in Tehran, where they agreed to establish a “gas troika” to cooperate on the exploration and production of their gas reserves. [20]
• In a meeting in April 2009 with the Qatari minister of information, Sheikh Hamad Bin Thamar At-Thani, Iranian Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani expressed Iran’s desire to create unity among regional and Muslim countries. Sheikh Hamad Bin Thamar At-Thani said that Qatar appreciates Iran’s position on regional and international issues. [“Iran Pursues Unity Strategy In The Region: Larijani,” Iranian Students News Agency, April 8, 2009]
• In a meeting in July 2009 with Emir of Qatar Sheikh Ahamad Bin Khalifa al-Thanii, Larijani described Qatar as a strategic partner and indicated that Iran is determined to expand its bilateral ties with Qatar. The Emir of Qatar said: “Iran is always standing behind Arab sand people of Palestine, but some want to make minds turn against the country while we have no problem with it. Iran is always our friend and we won’t allow any ill-will person to create problems between us.” [22]

United Arab Emirates (UAE)

• In August 2009, the National Iranian Gas Export Company (NIGEC) and a UAE company signed an agreement for transferring Iranian natural gas to the UAE. [23]
• On August 14, 2009, the UAE seized a cargo of North Korean weapons being shipped to Iran, which would have violated a UN embargo on arms exports from North Korea. [24]
• UAE sees Iran as both a threat and a valued trading partner – it spends billions to defend itself against a perceived Iranian threat while it also enjoys a robust trading relationship with Iran. The UAE is one of Iran’s largest trading partners. [25]

So, Iran’s Ayatollahs want the Gulf for themselves, and don’t want to end like Saddam Hussein if they invade them. Peaceful nuclear technology? Yeah, what a joke!

Shia-Sunni conflict: Morocco cuts diplomatic ties with Iran

Morocco has cut diplomatic links with Iran, the Moroccan Foreign Ministry said on Friday, in the wake of an outcry in the Sunni Muslim world over a statement by an Iranian official questioning Sunni Bahrain’s sovereignty.

Rabat also criticised Iran for its efforts to spread its Shi’ite brand of Islam in Morocco, a move the ministry said it saw as threat to the North African country’s moderate Sunni religious identity.

“The Kingdom of Morocco has decided to break its diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran beginning this Friday,” the ministry said.

Sunni scholars in Morocco and elsewhere have denounced what they see as Iran’s efforts to convert Sunni Muslims to Shi’ism, arguing the drive would create strife similar to the often bloody Shi’ite-Sunni divides in Iraq and Pakistan.

According to media reports, Ali Akbar Nateq-Nouri, an adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said last month Shi’ite-ruled Iran had sovereignty over Bahrain.

In response Morocco’s King Mohammed sent the Bahraini monarch, King Hamad Bin Isa al-Khalifa, a message of support, calling the Iranian remarks “absurd” and a contradiction of international law.

via Morocco cuts diplomatic ties with Iran.

The reason for this is that inside Morocco, there are shia muslims (most of them living in the North and East parts of the country) who, in an important part, had studied in Lebanon, are supporters of Hizbullah and “don’t act secretly as before” says Ahmed Abadi, an Islam’s teacher. “They even publish magazines where they say that Morocco is a country with a Shia past and it has to go bacj to its origins”.

So Shiites are trying to end Mohammed’s regime, eh? 😆

Why not claiming too that Morocco’s own remarks about Ceuta and Melilla are too “absurd” and a contradiction  of international law?

Enfrentamiento Sunitas-Chiíes: Marruecos rompe relaciones con Irán

Por un “simple” litigio territorial, Marruecos rompe relaciones diplomáticas con Irán. Las críticas de Teherán hacia la defensa marroquí de la soberanía de Bahrein han sido sólo el desencadenante político, “la gota que ha colmado el vaso”, aseguraron fuentes del parlamento marroquí. El transfondo de la ruptura de las relaciones diplomáticas entre los dos países hay que buscarlo en la expansión del chíísmo en la sociedad marroquí.

(…) Los fundamentos religiosos en Marruecos se han visto “alterados por algunos comportamientos no diplomáticos de algunos funcionarios de la embajada iraní en Rabat”, dijo el director de asuntos bilaterales del ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores, aludiendo indirectamente al avance de la corriente chiíta. La mayoría de los chiíes marroquíes están afincados en el norte y este del país. Muchos han estudiado en el Líbano y se manifiestan seguidores de Husein Fadlala, Según Ahmed Abadi, profesor del Islam,  se “aprovechan” de  la popularidad del Partido de Dios (Hizbulá) en el Líbano para empujar el rito que “no actúa en la clandestinidad como antes” y además “publican revistas en las que se manifiesta que Marruecos es un país con antecedentes chiítas y debe regresar al origen”.

via COPE – Marruecos contra las expansión chiíta de Irán.

Al parecer, el conflicto diplomático se produjo cuando Ali Akbar Nateq-Nouri, un consejero del Líder Supremo iraní el Ayatolá Ali Khamenei, dijo el mes pasado que el Irán gobernado por los chiíes tiene soberanía sobre Bahrain. En respuesta a esto, Mohammed VI mandó al monarca de Bahrein, el Rey Hamad Bin Isa al-Khalifa, un mensaje de apoyo, sosteniendo que las afirmaciones iraníes son “absurdas” y contradicen el derecho internacional.

De modo que los chiíes están intentando mover el sillón a Mohamed, ¿eh? Ya de paso podía declarar también “absurdas” y “en abierta contradicción con el Derecho Internacional sus propias reclamaciones sobre Ceuta, Melilla, Canarias y el resto de España…

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Spanish Pundit