UAE- Tehran should allay fears of Gulf nations: paper

ABU DHABI 16th August 2015 (WAM) -- An English lanuguage daily today commented editorially on the Iran-Gulf relations saying that they are now back in the spotlight after Tehran's rapprochement with world powers on the nuclear issue.

The Khaleej Times said that the prospect of Iran coming back into the mainstream of world politics has raised some legitimate concerns for Gulf nations. "Iran's propensity to spread sectarian strife in the neighbourhood had been well documented despite protestations to the contrary by the regime in Tehran. Its proxies have been sowing seeds of discontent in Bahrain Yemen and Kuwait and parts of Saudi Arabia. We see every other day some plot or the other being uncovered with some definite links to Iran's Revolutionary Guards" it said.

The paper added "Of late Iran has been sounding out about its intentions to reach out to the Gulf neighbours. In the latest such move its Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said that a meeting with Gulf nations will be held in a neutral country on September 22nd to initiate a dialogue on issues of concern."

The paper continued "This move is indeed welcome if it is real as it is yet to be confirmed by the Gulf Cooperation Council. In the proposed talks Tehran should allay the fears of the Gulf nations over its hegemonistic designs. It should commit itself to a hands-off policy vis-a-vis internal issues of its neighbours. It should suspend its arms supplies to Houthi rebels in Yemen which is exacerbating the situation. In Bahrain Tehran's footprint is written large everywhere. Its support to opposition groups is too palpable to escape anybody's attention. In Kuwait too its meddling has been amply proved several times. The seizure of huge cache of arms and ammunition from three persons linked to Hezbollah is the latest incident where its complicity is suspected."

In conclusion the editorial noted that it is better late than never. "At least now Tehran should allay apprehensions of the Gulf nations to their satisfaction so that a genuine thaw can begin. Their partnership can be very useful in resolving several tricky issues in the region. They can forge a common front in halting the march of the dreadful terror group Daesh which has been threatening the existence of nation-states in the region. Arab nations and Iran are poles apart when it comes to the issue of Syria and future role of Bashar Al Assad. But at least they should start talking about it now so that they can bridge some gaps" it said.