The invitation to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the GCC summit in Doha surprised many. Relations between the Arab and Iranian sides of the Gulf can hardly be described as flawless. Quite apart from Iran’s occupation of three UAE islands, which 36 years on still awaits resolution, there has been considerable concern about Iran’s involvement in Lebanon and Iraq as well as over its nuclear intentions. Those legitimate concerns in fact made Ahmadinejad’s presence — the first ever by an Iranian leader — highly appropriate. The GCC is, after all, about three things above all others: regional security, stability and growth. In the context of the first two, it made perfect sense that he should be invited. Dialogue is always the best way to iron out concerns. The Iranian leader’s reassurance that his country’s nuclear ambitions are purely about energy have helped soothe relations, although the release of a US intelligence report on the same day that the Doha summit got under way, stating that Iran had suspended a nuclear weapons program in 2003 probably did even more to clear the air. Ahmadinejad himself tacitly acknowledged that when he called the report a “victory” for Iran.
In fact, although the report says that Iran continues to enrich uranium, which can be used to make nuclear weapons, and just two days ago the French and German leaders meeting in Paris declared that Iran is still a threat, its nuclear ambitions are not the prime concern for GCC or other Arab governments. That is even more so when it comes to the Arab on the street. For him, the question whether Iran will develop nuclear weapons would be irrelevant but for Washington’s stirring the issue. For many, the danger is from the US. So convinced are they of the Bush administration’s bad intentions that they firmly believe it will order a strike against Iran before the US presidential elections next November. The fact that such a scenario is not only extremely unlikely but now almost impossible given the intelligence report does not alter that view. They have seen Washington’s self-serving use of misinformation and the fiasco in Iraq and are sure it will happen again.
GCC governments, however, are far more concerned about Iraq and Lebanon. But there too, things seem to be shifting for the better. The political crisis in Lebanon is far from resolved but the fact that the government and opposition can finally agree on a compromise presidential candidate in the form of Gen. Michel Suleiman indicates light at the end of the tunnel. Likewise Iraq, while still a horrible mess, seems to be less murderous than a few months ago. It is relative, but again there is cause for hope. For all the rhetoric from Ahmadinejad, he wants friends and cooperation. In any event, Iran is not a one-man state. Doha saw him reassuring his neighbors as to his good intentions. While Lebanon and Iraq will remain the touchstones for Arab-Iranian relations, the GCC will obviously look seriously at his offer of closer security and economic ties. After all, this goes to the heart of the GCC’s key objectives of regional security, stability and growth. Iran is central to the Gulf stability. It cannot be ignored. Dialogue is the only way to ensure stability and security are maintained.
