Iran-Saudi Arabian Embrace: A New Beginning?
Dilip Hiro - 3/16/2007
The US, struggling to control violence in Iraq, has ratcheted up its threat against neighboring Iran as a primary culprit. Longstanding US concerns about Iran defying the international community by developing nuclear weapons have recently been heightened by its accusation that the Islamic state has been supporting Shiite militias against Sunnis in Iraq’s ongoing civil war. Conservative US policymakers argue that the growing power of Iran threatens US allies like Saudi Arabia. Against this backdrop, an image of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Saudi King Abdullah embracing at a recent meeting in Riyadh is indeed jarring. But author and journalist Dilip Hiro points out that while the two nations are traditional rivals, both share economic interests as leading exporters of oil. A cooperative effort by Shiite Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia could present the sole means of ending chaos in Iraq. If that were to happen, the US could find itself on the sidelines as Middle Eastern powers devise their own strategies for regional security.
...
Read the rest...
Pertinent Links:
1) Iran-Saudi Arabian Embrace: A New Beginning?
Friday, March 16, 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment