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Gulf Leaders Welcome Khatami (Serial 4201)
Leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries called for toughinternational measures against Iraq and extended a hand of friendshiptoward Iran at their annual summit meeting, held this year in Kuwaiton Dec. 20-22. But contrary to reports emanating from U.S. thinktanks and academics, there were no calls, either public or private,for any major changes in U.S. policy toward the Persian Gulf roguestates, nor calls for a diminution of the U.S. military presence inthe Gulf.
Many U.S. commentators, seeing criticism of U.S. policy from ArabGulf leaders and editorialists, jump to the conclusion that they arehearing the death-knell of the Clinton administration's "dualcontainment" policy toward Iraq and Iran.
In fact, the message being delivered by Arab Gulf leaders is quitedifferent. According to Abdallah Bishara, a long-time SecretaryGeneral of the GCC who today serves as a top foreign policy advisorto the Emir of Kuwait, the Gulf states "want gunboat diplomacy tostay. This is what has deterred Iran." Bishara, who is Kuwaiti, isunderstandably more worried about Iraq today than he is about Iran."We want a continued U.S. military presence, because America'spresence in this region is in the interests of the internationalcommunity, of world peace, and of safe and secure oil supplies."
GCC leaders were favorably impressed by Iranian President MohammadKhatami during the Tehran summit of the Islamic ConferenceOrganization, and reacted favorably to his overture to travel to AbuDhabi to negotiate the ongoing crisis over the Gulf channel islandsjointly claimed by Iran and the UAE. The issue became inflamed in1992 when Iran claimed unilateral control over the three channelislands that had been under joint UAE-Iranian sovereignty since 1971.At first, the GCC demanded the case be resolved through bilateralnegotiations, which Iran refused. In their 1994 summit, the six ArabGulf countries shifted position and demanded that the case be arguedbefore an international arbitration court in the Hague, which Iraneven more vehemently refused. So President Khatami's offer in lateDecember to negotiate directly with the UAE marks a return to theearlier GCC demand.
Bishara and other GCC officials cautioned that it was much tooearly to make any definitive judgments about Khatami's offers offriendship, since his own position inside the clerical hierarchy inIran remained uncertain. "It remains unclear whether the Iranians aresincere about Khatami's offers of friendship and cooperation,"Bishara said. "But we sensed a drive to establish a new, brightimage, both regionally and internationally. And this itself is aremarkable facet of a new approach. But there is a real cleavagebetween Khatami and Khamene'i that has yet to be resolved," headded.
One of the main concerns of the GCC countries is Gulf security.The Islamic Republic continues to insist that the Gulf countriesestablish some form of joint security forum or organization, withoutthe presence of foreign forces (i.e., the Americans), whereas the GCCcountries adamantly support the U.S. presence in the Gulf as the onlycredible guarantee of their security.
"I doubt the Iranians will ever acquiesce to our concernsconcerning Gulf security," Bishara said. "They may keep quiet aboutit. But in the end, they insist that the Gulf is a regional securityproblem, whereas we believe it should be a global security concern.We do not want an Iranian-designed blueprint for Gulf security," hesaid.
Other GCC diplomats took similar positions, despite the warmpublic overture toward the Islamic Republic in the finalcommuniqué of the GCC summit. "We are extending a cordialmessage to Iran, extending our hand even further, because we believeessentially that the moderate camp has one," a senior Qatari officialsaid. "We hope that this would lead the United States toward morenormal relationship with Iran, not necessarily any concessions, butat least to some form of dialogue. We had this opportunity withRafsanjani in 1989, and we blew it; so let's not squander it thistime," the diplomat said.