Iran aggression in focus at Manama Dialogue
CALL FOR UNITED FRONT AGAINST TEHRAN’S ‘VISION OF DARKNESS’
Participants at a security summit in Bahrain yesterday pilloried the “vision of darkness” propagated by the regime in Iran and called for a united front against the country’s expansionist policies.
Saudi Arabia and key ally Bahrain said that Gulf states are playing a critical role in maintaining stability in the Middle East by combating Iran’s “vision of darkness”.
“We are now dealing with two visions in the Middle East. One is a [Saudi] vision of light ... One is a [Iranian] vision of darkness which seeks to spread sectarianism throughout the region,” Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir told Bahrain’s 14th Manama Dialogue security conference. “History tells us that light always wins out against the dark ... The question is how do we defeat them.”
Al Jubeir said ties between Saudi Arabia and the United States are “ironclad” and praised what he described as the “rational, realistic” foreign policy of the current US administration.
US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis went through a list of what he described as disruptive Iranian behaviour. Mattis said he continued to support partners in the region who were defending themselves against Al Houthi attacks in Yemen and called for an end to fighting there.
A Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015 to support the legitimate government of Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi whose government was driven out from the capital Sana’a by the Iranian-backed Al Houthi militia.
We stand against Iran’s unsafe and reckless behaviour that flouts freedom of navigation and disrupts maritime security and global trade.” Jim Mattis | US Defence Secretary
Stability in the region
Mattis said the US and Saudi Arabia still needed to collaborate on stability in the region.
Bahrain’s Prince Salman, who is also Bahrain’s Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister, said the security conference this year takes place “at a crucial juncture as extremist ideologies continue to challenge the region’s stability in spite of an acceleration in development and living standards driven by innovative economic policies.”
Iran was heavily criticised at an international security conference in Manama where it was accused of representing the dark side.
Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmad Al Khalifa said at the Manama Dialogue here yesterday that the underlying theme tying all the crises in the region was the attempt by Iran’s decades-long quest to impose its hegemony on others, spread its revolution and control more territory through proxies.
“Iran’s interference in the affairs of Yemen and its support to the terrorist Al Houthis has prolonged the conflict and contributes to Al Houthis’ unwillingness to return to the political process that all Yemeni parties agreed to in 2012 and to abandon their armed rebellion,” Shaikh Khalid said.
In his keynote address, US Defence Secretary James Mattis reiterated US support for the stability and security of the region and warned that Washington would not remain idle if Tehran sought to pursue nuclear weapons. “The US is committed to working alongside to reinforce dynamic international response to regional challenges,” he said. “A stable Middle East underpins a stable world. Instability does not respect international borders. It grows and spreads if left unchecked. Like-minded nations here today do not seek war or conflict. Yet, we cannot ignore the malign influence and destabilising behaviour pursued by violent extremist organisations and by Iran‘s outlaw regime.”
He added that the fact that Iran operated through proxy forces did not lessen its culpability or their accountability towards the international community.
“We will not stand idly by as Iran attempts to pursue nuclear weapons,” he warned.
He backed Saudi Arabia against Iranian-backed Al Houthi rebels in Yemen. “I reiterate US support for our partners’ right to defend themselves against Iranian-supplied [Al] Houthi attacks on their sovereign territory,” he said.
Shaikh Khalid said leaders in Iraq and in Lebanon are attempting to guide their nations towards the path of prosperity, but they are confronted by Iranian-backed groups or individuals who place loyalty to Tehran over the national interest of their countries, resulting in bad governance, inefficiency, and ultimately political paralysis, he added.
“Hezbollah and associated groups continue to use bases
in Lebanon and Iraq to destabilise the region. Young men and women are recruited from across the region and trained in bomb-making, weapons smuggling and military tactics and then sent back to destabilise their countries and advance the Iranian regime’s hegemonic ambitions.”
Such ambitions in the region contribute to a constant source of tension and distrust among regional states and make existing crises even worse, he warned.
In response to the problem of regional hegemonic ambitions, countries that have a role and a stake in the region such as the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Russia must engage with the region and with one another to help restore stability, Shaikh Khalid added
‘Two competing visions’
“I would like to point out the importance of the proposal from the US to establish the Middle East Strategic Alliance (Mesa) as part of the solution to the problems we face in the region. Mesa is not against anyone, it is an alliance for security and prosperity in the region and it will be open to those who accept its principles,” he said.
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir said the current crises plaguing the region are driven by regional actors bent on changing the regional order, rather than outside powers trying to dominate the Middle East.
“We are now dealing in the Middle East with two competing visions. One is a vision of light that seeks all the things I mentioned. The other vision is of darkness, which seeks to spread sectarianism, encourage terrorism, dominate other countries and destabilise the region. One is what we stand for in Saudi Arabia and in the Gulf countries; the other is what Iran stands for,” Al Jubeir said.