IN A HISTORIC DECLARATION, KUWAIT APPOLOGISED TO IRAN
By Nina Kamran, IPS Diplomatic Editor
RIYADH, 6 May (IPS) In an unprecedented move that may change drastically the atmosphere in the strategic region of the Persian Gulf, Kuwait's Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah al Ahmad al Sabah publicly apologised Sunday to Iran for his oil-rich country’s backing of Iraq during the bloody eight years Iran-Iraq War.
"During the 80s we were mistaken in supporting Iraq in its war against Iran. We have indeed apologized for that policy. But our Iranian brothers should not forget the circumstances then", he said, observing that "the Iranians were also responsible, as they backed plots to assassinate the Emir (of Kuwait) and launched missile attacks at our ships and oil installations".
Iranian and Arab analysts immediately said the "landmark" declaration would have "far reaching, positive implications" for the situation in the Persian Gulf, paving eventually the way for closer, more sincere and concrete co-operation between Iran and its Arab neighbours south of the waterway.
"But this was in the past. Today, we consider friendship and co-operation with Iran the cornerstone of our national policy. We look to Iran as an element for peace and stability in the region" Sheikh Sabah told the London-based, Saudi-owned Arabic daily "Al Sharq al Awsat".
His declaration, coming less than two weeks after Iran and Saudi Arabia concluded a "historic" security arrangement, is "the best gift the embattled Iranian President Mohammad Khatami could have received as he enters the next presidential race", according to some Iranian observers.
Sheikh Sabah’s resounding apology and the friendly hand he extended to the Iranians coincided dramatically with a rare, and almost unprecedented gesture by the UAE President Sheikh Zaid bin Sultan al-Nahayan when, in a telephone conversation, he congratulated the outgoing President for seeking a second term in office, wishing him "success in leading the Iranian people and further prosperity, progress and stability for the peoples of the region".
Relations between Iran and Arab states in the Persian Gulf deteriorated sharply after the victory of the Iranian Islamic revolution of 1979, with the new, revolutionary minded Iranian rulers calling for the toppling all the oil-rich Sheikhdoms, including Saudi Arabia, considered as "US puppets", replacing them with Iranian type Islamic republics.
In response, the frightened Emirs rushed to help the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein when he attacked Iran and entered military defence pacts with the United States and Britain and France in lesser degree.
Eventually, they realised their mistake when Iraq absorbed Kuwait in 1990 and threatened Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter.
Yet, and despite the defeat of Iraq, mistrust against the Islamic Republic of Iran continued until the landslide victory of Hojjatoleslam Mohammad Khatami in the 1997 presidential elections, as the new President had made détente with Iran’s Arab neighbours a priority of his foreign policy.
The gradual and cautious rapprochement between Tehran and Riyadh opened the way for other Persian Gulf states, except the United Arab Emirates, engaged in a territorial dispute with Iran over the sovereignty of three islands situated strategically at the entrance of the Persian Gulf and where Iran has built a large military base, to also seek closer ties with Tehran, reckoned as the strongest nation in the region capable of standing to Iraqi ambitions.
"The recent Iranian massive missile attack on the bases of the Iraqi-supported, financed and armed Mujahedeen Khalq Organisation inside Iraq impressed everyone, particularly those in the region. It seems that once again, we go back to the situation before the revolution, when Iran was accepted as the gendarme of the region, but a gendarme one can count on", explained Dr. Alireza Noorizadeh, an independent Iranian journalist based in London considered one of the best Arab watchers.
In less than one hour, Iran had launched more than 60 missiles, much more the total number Iran used in the eight years of war against Iraq, over MKO bases scattered in the Iraqi territory alongside borders with Iran.
Sheikh Sabah al Ahmad also called on the United States to open a dialogue with Iran, saying good ties between Washington and Tehran would advance stability in the Persian Gulf.
"My advice regarding Iran is that the US should open a dialogue with Tehran", Sheikh Sabah, who is the brother of the Emir of Kuwait, told the pan-Arab daily.
"We believe that establishing good relations between US and Iran could contribute to stability in the region, and strengthen Kuwait's security too", he further said, noting that his country's own ties with Tehran had improved in the past months.
His bit of "advice" to the US came shortly after US Secretary of State Colin Powell had reiterated that Washington would continue to try to isolate both Iran and Iraq, describing both Baghdad and Tehran as "dangerous ... (and) are out of step with the way the world is going", according to international news agencies.
Iran and the United States have not had diplomatic ties since April 1980, following the seizure of the US embassy in Tehran by radical Islamic students who took the 55 staff hostage for 444 days.
According to Mr. Noorizadeh, the recent development in the Middle East, particularly the collapse of Oslo Accord had also its role in the Iran-GCC rapprochement, as most of the rulers, including Saudi Arabia are utterly unhappy with Washington’s continued one-sided policy in favour of the Jewish State. "Hence the Tehran-Ryiadh security agreements and now this historic declaration of Kuwait’s strongman", he commented to Iran Press service. ENDS KUWAIT IRAN 6501