 EC Secretary Warns S. Arabia to Give up Plot for Annexing Bahrain
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(Ahlul Bayt News Agency)
- "Such Saudi measures have created insecurity in the whole region and
the Islamic Republic of Iran as an influential country in the Persian
Gulf region will not keep mum about these moves of Saudi Arabia
forever," Rezayee said on Monday.
"We advise
Saudi Arabia to return from its current path and stop movement on this
path since if it continues the path, the region will face unpredictable
events," he added.
Rezayee warned the Saudi
officials that insisting on the wrong positions they have adopted on
Bahrain will secure the US interests, will harm the regional countries
and will create insecurity in the Persian Gulf region.
Six
Persian Gulf Arab states strived at a summit last week to forge closer
political and military union which would start with a practical
annexation of Bahrain to Saudi Arabia, but the talks ended
inconclusively after the Bahraini people and other nations voiced strong
opposition to the plan.
No agreement on further integration emerged as smaller Persian Gulf Arab states are wary of the Saudi domination of the region.
In
the run-up to the Riyadh meeting, speculation was rife that an initial
union would be announced between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, where
anti-government protests led by majority Shiites have gripped the island
state since last year.
Riyadh has aided Bahrain's embattled Sunni monarchy with troops and money during the island nation's 15-month uprising.
Bahrain
has been hit by near daily protests and clashes since the uprising
began in February 2011 inspired by revolutions in other Arab countries.
People seek an overthrow of the Al-Khalifa's over-40-year rule over the
tiny Persian Gulf island. At least 50 people have been killed by the
Manama regime, where a Saudi-led Persian Gulf force came to the aid of
the ruling dynasty last year.
Majority Shiites
have been leading a pro-democracy uprising in Bahrain for over a year.
Saudi Arabia, fearing that unrest in Bahrain could spread to its own
Shiite community in its major oil-producing Eastern Province, sent
troops to Bahrain last year to help its government crush the initial
phase of the revolution.
The Bahraini people call
the unity proposal a sellout of the country's independence and an
effort to give Saudi security forces a stronger hand in crackdowns in
the strategic island kingdom, which is home to the US Navy's 5th Fleet.
A
spiritual Shiite figure in Bahrain, Ayatollah Issa Qassem, speaking at a
mosque outside of Manama, demanded that any proposed union of the two
countries be submitted to a referendum.
The Saudi
plot has roused anger among the regional nations, specially in Iran. On
Friday tens of thousands of Iranian people staged a rally to voice
their strong protest against the provocative move.
The protesters, who staged a rally after the Friday Prayers, called the plan as an act of treason.
The
Iranian protesters also criticized Riyadh for serving the US agenda in
the region by helping Manama's crackdown on anti-government protests.
The move by the Iranian people was concurrent with a similar demonstration in Bahrain.
Protesters
chanted slogans against the Al-Khalifa dynasty and renewed their call
for the ouster of their country's tyrannical rulers.
The
Bahraini protesters who stretched for five kilometers and jammed a
major highway in the capital, Manama, chanted "Bahrain is not for sale".
On the surface the plan is aimed at developing
unity between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia with regard to foreign relations,
security, military and economy, but in depth the plan is a last-ditch
effort by the two countries' monarchs for preventing the success of
Bahrain's revolution.
The Arab Spring uprisings
have been a challenge for the Persian Gulf rulers. Saudi Arabia took
action to suppress the uprisings in Bahrain after being shocked to see
Hosni Mubarak fall in Egypt.
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