Headline: A Saudi-US fence around Iran
Byline: The Monitor's View
Date: 03/26/2007
- Iran sent a belligerent warning last Friday: It seized 15 British
sailors and marines in the Persian Gulf. The hostile move wasn't
aimed only at London. It came just before anti-Iran moves by the UN
Security Council and Sunni Arab nations. The real message? "Don't
fence us in."
Tehran's radical Shiite regime faces an unusual partnership of foes
opposed to its regional and nuclear ambitions. The United States and
Saudi Arabia, either working separately or together, have rallied
friends and allies to isolate Iran by adept diplomacy.
On Saturday, for example, the United Nations Security Council voted
15 to 0 to toughen sanctions on Iran for its failure to suspend
suspect nuclear activities. The first sanctions were imposed in
December. If Iran doesn't suspend uranium enrichment within two
months, the UN may apply further pressure, or at least nod to efforts
by some nations to divest from Iran.
And this Wednesday, the 22-state Arab League will gather in a rather
public display of unity against Iran, hosted by Saudi Arabia's ruler,
King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz. He has led the diplomatic offensive to
roll back Iranian influence among Lebanese, Palestinians, and Shiite
Iraqis.
From a larger perspective, the Saudis are trying to curb the
influence of radical, violent Islam – a move that should win the
Saudi regime more support from Muslims around the world who see it as
caretaker of major holy Islamic sites.
The king, worried about Iran's ties to the radical Palestinian group
Hamas, was also able to broker a deal this month between Hamas and
the nationalist Fatah party to help form a new Palestinian unity
government. He also may be helping to suppress Iran-backed Hizbullah
forces in Lebanon. And there are reports of recent meetings between
Saudi and Israeli officials.
Saudi Arabia is beefing up its Navy with US aid and supporting other
Gulf states in building oil pipelines that would bypass the Gulf's
Strait of Hormuz, thus weakening Iran's ability to threaten oil
exports.
Confronting Iran directly, however, is not Saudi style. Its military
is weak compared with Iran's. That's why the capture of British
forces may be a signal from Iran's clerics – or maybe just a faction
– that retaliation is a strong option. (See story)
The Saudis are also expected to use this Arab summit to reassert
their 2002 peace offer to Israel. If Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice gets her way (she's on her fourth Middle East trip in four
months), the Saudis might engage more directly with Israel.
Meanwhile, the US must continue to engage with elements of the new
Hamas-led government, such as the non-Hamas foreign minister and
finance minister.
The US and Saudi Arabia do have differences over how to isolate Iran,
such as in bolstering Hamas. But both have an interest in weakening
Iran's influence in Iraq and in ending its nuclear ambitions. In
fact, Saturday's UN resolution goes beyond the nuclear issue to
freeze the assets of commanders in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard
and its military unit, the Quds Force, which has ties to militant
groups in Iraq and Lebanon.
A bolder Saudi Arabia and a more diplomatic US could make a good team
in curbing radical Islamists in the Middle East.
By:
(c) Copyright 2007
The Christian Science Monitor. All rights reserved.
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