Gulf concerns

Published : Jan 14, 2011 00:00 IST

The Gulf Cooperation Council summit offers an opportunity for member-states to clarify their position on Iran in the wake of WikiLeaks.

in Abu Dhabi

THE United States-Iran stand-off, in particular, and other issues relating to regional security dominated the proceedings of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit that took place in Abu Dhabi in the second week of December. The heads of state of Saudi Arabia and Oman did not attend the summit for health reasons.

The WikiLeaks expose of American diplomatic cables had shown the deep anxieties of many Gulf rulers about Iran, their immediate neighbour. The GCC summit gave them the opportunity to articulate their concerns in coherent diplomatic terms and clarify their stance on Iran and other key issues. A recent opinion survey in the Arab world had shown that an overwhelming majority of the people viewed Israel and the U.S. as the major threat to security in the region. Only a small minority had similar perceptions about Iran.

Among the GCC heads of state, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and King Hamad of Bahrain are among the leaders quoted in the WikiLeaks documents as urging the U.S. to attack Iran. Leaders of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) (which consists of seven states: Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm al-Quwain) are also shown to be not too complimentary to Iran in the data released by the whistle-blowing media group.

UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan had stated at the Arab League Summit in 2007 that the emirates was not a party to the U.S. conflict with Iran and that it would not allow its territory to be used for military activities. The kingdoms of Qatar and Oman have consistently spoken out against a military conflict over Iran. In fact, Oman had invited Iran to be an observer when it hosted a GCC summit in 2008.

UAE-IRAN DISPUTE

The UAE, the host country for this year's summit, has a 30-year-old dispute with Iran over the ownership of three small islands in the Gulf the Greater and Lesser Tunb and Abu Mousa. (The GCC expressed its unwavering support to the UAE's sovereignty over the three islands and blamed Iran for stonewalling the issue.) But the UAE has been enjoying a lucrative commercial relationship with Iran. Iranian expatriates have invested more than $400 billion in the last decade in the emirates. Washington has been putting pressure on the UAE government to cut off its economic and trade links with Teheran. Dubai, one of the key emirates, is particularly affected by the sanctions on Iran, as it tries to revive its battered economy.

The UAE's Central Bank Governor, Sultan bin Nasser al-Suwaidi, told the media that the government was implementing to the letter all the tough United Nations Security Council (UNSC) sanctions against Iran. He, however, denied that there was any pressure on the UAE government to implement the additional unilateral sanctions that the U.S. and some of its western European allies had imposed on Iran. The UAE has a good track record on this. We implement UNSC resolutions, not additional sanctions, said al-Suwaidi. He admitted that some overzealous banks in the country had overreacted with legitimate Iranian businesses. Under U.S. pressure, legitimate Iranian business has been denied credit by UAE banks. Iranian bank credits are not accepted by suppliers in the U.S. and Europe.

Mistakes downstream did happen. These mistakes will be rectified, he said.

It is well known that the U.S. has been trying to arm-twist the UAE into its game plan of strangling Iran economically. Some 400,000 Iranians live in Dubai and 8,000 Iranian companies are registered there, including two major banks Bank Melli Iran and Bank Sedarat Iran. Both these banks are under U.S. sanctions on the suspicion that they are involved in financing Iran's nuclear programme. Stuart Levey, the U.S. Under Secretary of State of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, has been making frequent visits to the UAE.

Morteza Masoumzadeh, Vice-President of the Iranian Business Council in Dubai, said in November that bilateral trade between the UAE and Iran had been impacted severely by the sanctions. He said Iranian banking operations had virtually come to a standstill in the UAE. These developments, according to analysts in the region, are likely to have a negative effect on Dubai's gross domestic product. After India, Iran is the second largest re-export destination for the UAE.

The UAE's Foreign Minister, Shaikh Abdullah bin-Zayed, speaking at the conclusion of the GCC summit, said he wanted the U.N. sanctions to end if Iran cooperated with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the international community over its nuclear programme.

Actually, we want the Security Council to go back and end the sanctions on Iran, but Iran has to help the international community to do so as well, said Shaikh Abdullah bin-Zayed. He added that the GCC had always upheld Iran's right to a peaceful nuclear programme. The GCC leaders have demanded that IAEA standards be applied to all countries in West Asia, including Israel, equally. They also demanded that Israel sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and get its nuclear plants inspected by the IAEA.

The final statement, issued at the conclusion of the summit, welcomed the international efforts, especially those made by the Group (G5+1), to deal with the Iran dossier and expressed the hope that Iran would react positively to such efforts. The GCC statement laid stress on resolution of disputes through peaceful means and making the Middle East [West Asia] region, including the Gulf area, free of weapons of mass destruction and nuclear weapons.

The GCC also demanded that Iran commit itself to the basic principles of promoting good neighbourliness, non-interference in the internal affairs of others, settlement of disputes through peaceful means, and refraining from using or threatening the use of force in the region. Iranian military leaders hailing from the Revolutionary Guards had in recent months said that if the U.S. used its military option against their country the entire Gulf region would be engulfed in the flames of war. The U.S. has big military bases in all the GCC countries.

SITUATION IN YEMEN

The deteriorating security situation in Yemen, which has been a cause for concern for the GCC, figured prominently in the summit discussions. Shaikh Abdullah bin-Zayed said the GCC was keen on financially assisting Yemen and at the same time helping the country to curb terrorism. There is no doubt that the Yemeni issue will be of interest and concern to the GCC countries for years to come, he said.

GCC parliamentarians had recently warned that Yemen's stability was crucial to the stability of the entire Gulf region. They had called on the Arab countries and the international community to lend a helping hand to Yemen and warned that time was running out.

The UAE Foreign Minister, however, said that there was cause for optimism as things are not as bad as people think. He pointed out to the successful hosting of the Gulf Football Cup in Yemen in November. The GCC Secretary-General, Abdul Rahman al-Attiyah, said the role of the grouping was to help Yemen in its fight against terrorism and help it to preserve its unity. Yemen today is facing multiple insurrections. The most serious one is in the south of the country, where separatists are once again waging a battle for independence.

At the summit, the GCC leaders urged the U.N. to set up an international centre to combat terrorism. The final communique emphasised that the setting up of such a centre would enhance regional and international efforts to combat terrorism through the exchange of information and expertise. The GCC nations have reasons to be worried with the toehold Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has gained in Yemen.

At the beginning of the GCC conference, the UAE President praised the efforts of the Saudi security services in thwarting the recent terrorist plots against the Saudi government. In all, 149 people from 19 cells linked to the AQAP have been arrested in the past eight months.

We are closely following Saudi Arabia's efforts to combat terrorism and while condemning terrorist acts we express support to the kingdom and the international community in their fight against terrorism in all its forms, the Emir of Kuwait, Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, told the opening session.

The GCC summit blamed Israel for the failure of the peace negotiations and supported the Palestinian Authority's (PA) decision to suspend talks on the issue of Israeli settlements. It emphasised that any settlement freeze should include Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem.

The GCC reiterated its call for speedy setting up of an independent and viable Palestinian state. Shaikh Abdullah bin-Zayed said it should be established on the basis of the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as the capital. He welcomed the recent move by Brazil and Argentina to recognise the state of Palestine and described it as a slap on the face of Israel by the international community. The Foreign Minister also called on the international community to put pressure on Israel to compel it to end its practices aimed at judaising' East Jerusalem.

MONETARY ISSUE

Not much headway seems to have been made on the issue of a common currency for the GCC states. Although the GCC Secretary-General expressed optimism about the UAE rejoining the GCC monetary union, the goal of a single Gulf currency seems to be elusive. The UAE walked out of the GCC monetary union when the Saudi Arabian capital, Riyadh, was chosen as its headquarters. The UAE has the second largest economy in the region after Saudi Arabia.

The GCC Secretary-General said the participation of the UAE is very important for the achievement of the monetary union. He, however, did not spell out any timeline for a common currency.

That the UAE does not consider this goal a priority was clear from the remarks of the country's Central Bank Governor. During his interaction with the media, he said a single currency was a last step. He stressed that commonalities in the economies of the member-states were needed before taking such an important step. We will take our time, he added. Meanwhile, the UAE continues to put its trust in the U.S. dollar, which the Central Bank official described as the most reliable currency.

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