The Chairman of Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh said in Tehran today that Iran is strongly considering severing ties with the UAE over the Emirate's involvement in Bahrain. [Fars News Agency, 12 April].
“The repression of the revolution in Bahrain and the country's stance at the GCC is distancing the Emirates from enjoying mutual and brotherly ties with Iran,” Falahatpisheh said [Fars News Agency, 12 April].
“Iran's financial and commercial ties with the Emirates are not to the benefit of the Islamic Republic,” Falahatpisheh added. ”And in political terms, the Emiratis play a negative role toward Iran and the rest of the region.”
14 comments:
yeaah finally a positive step.
I mean if they play the boycott card, then pull out and invest in countries culturaly closer to Iran like Turkey Armania Azarbayjan Georgia and etc.
Many of us in diaspora have already pulled out and are removing capital to Turkey and (not gonna say wherelese ;)
Cutting ties with the UAE, if it happens, would be the culmination of failed foreign policy by Iran. UAE was the gateway to Iran, both for commerce and international banking, during some of the most difficult years of IRI, also a large number of its citizens, especially in Dubai, are of Iranian origin, and yet the Iranian government has managed to bring its relations with UAE to this level. I am not even sure if this is the case of a failed foreign policy, it seems more the result of a lack of any foreign policy. If the ties were indeed severed, it would be a sad day for Iranian diplomacy.
Anon 8:12 believes this is a positive step. But again if Iran decides not to cut its ties with UAE, that would be also considered a positive step.
There goes Mr. Nader again..Blaming Iran for UAE's hollow bravado & stupidity.What next? Iran's to blame for Saudi - UAE invasion of Bahrain?Go ask anybody in all the Arab countries and they'll tell you who's in the wrong. At least it's not Iran that's killing people on the streets..
As far as you're concerned, a successful Iran foreign policy will be one that Iran's always begging and licking the boots of these oil-pimpdoms and the west's..Get a grip!!!
Your anti-Iran views are just pathetic.Go live in UAE or SA if you love them so much.
their is much more to it all this revolution in principle just opening the ground to final war gainest iran the signe is comming surface by the way commander of army saying and also the irgc commander i belive in 2 to 6 month large skill of war all area of persian gulf and the surranded iran boarder will happend which iran start to prepeard from begging of last years to deploy most area and also more air defence in all area of country if the war started as the leader say would not be in the iran boarder to defend all aspect of area.
Its UAE unadulterated obediance towards the USA regarding Iran, is what scares me.
Have u seen the torure film of that poor Afghan man by that prince ??
Money has to flow, The Arabs want to invest in Beton and houses which shall decay in 15 years through sand??, then its their money, but Iranian money has to be invested otherwise to promote Iranian interests, even pulled through netanyahoos nose as US money and poured into Iran.
other words screw them illoyal buggers
for sure uae will be pay the bigest prices if the war brake up true uae will be the first one accupied by iranian forces in few hours of war they have great plan for uae,iran last few years ago put plan how to accuppied uae land in pgcc area fastes way possible do not open them secret that easy but uae will be gone for sure,the reason do not do it for sure iran must face up usa and all nato forces plus rusia and all his surronded area it is not only one country to strike all of them require extansive plan to deal with.
Last I checked, the UAE has not changed. This UAE is same as it was five years ago, or ten years ago. At the height of sanctions, Iran kept a very close commercial and banking relation with this same UAE. Politicians visited each other’s capitals. Iran foreign ministry was talking about its successes in the Persian Gulf. I am sure some of the commentators of this post, then were praising Iran’s foreign policy and its successes in the region against the West. Now suddenly UAE is nothing, always was nothing, and having a good relation with it means “always begging and licking the boots of these oil-pimpdoms,” as Anon 11:13 AM argues.
The problem here is some of these commentators want to shape their analysis to fit the current needs of the regime in Tehran. When UAE has strong commercial and banking relations with Tehran, we talk about victorious Iranian foreign policy. Now that there are disagreements with UAE on Bahrain, they become insignificant players. This is not analysis, it is being an official spokesman for the IRI.
Why should Iran continue to have relations with a country such as the UAE which serves as a US military base and intelligence gathering center for Iran's enemies? Would the US maintain relations with Mexico if it allowed Russian Military and Intelligence facilities aimed at the US in its country? The US has a thriving commercial relationship with Mexico but does that supercede US National security?
Iranians and Iranian related investments literally drive the Dubai if not the UAE economy through its logistics business by re-exporting to Iran. Dubai's attempt at diversifying its economy otherwise has been an extreme failure. The Burj Dubai is empty and the city is the Middle East capital of prostitution.
The UAE does not acknowledge any of the items you mentioned regarding the close ties it has with Iran, rather its foreign policy consists of agreeing with a military strike on Iran and supporting war and sanction efforts. No I think it is the UAE who lacks any ability in foreign policy. But then again all of the puppet governments are not in control of their own political maneuvering, they get their orders from Washington. It is the UAE who needs Iran not the other way around as you seem to think.
I challenge you to name a country in the Middle East who is more astute at foreign policy than Iran. How can you say that Iran does not have a foreign policy? Iran has been running diplomatic circles around the US and the West for decades. Their PR campaigns in the Muslim and Non-Muslim world are unmatched by any other ME country. Ahmadinejad was voted as one of the most admired leader in the ME several times in a row along with Sheikh Nasrallah, Hugo Chavez, Bashar Assad and PM erdogan of Turkey, all of whom are strong allies with Iran. Do you even know what the Arab Public Opinion Poll is? Zogby International? Iran has continually gained diplomatic clout in the region year after year, i.e the Tehran Declaration, regional support for its nuclear program, the SCO, the OIC, Irans inroads in Iraq and Afghanistan are doing very well.
It is because of Irans remarkable foreign policy that the US and others are resorting to terrorist tactics,(MKO, Jundullah, PKK) illegal sanctions, and strong arming tactics to achieve their ill-gotten goals.
The US still hasnt explained why they invaded Iraq, how is that for a bad foreign policy? haha
Mr. Nader it is obvious that you still have lots of education to do. I recommend doing a little research before putting out such outlandish statements.
Anon 6:29 PM,
Thanks for the time and effort to post the comment. The purpose of the comment sections in this blog is a free-flow exchange of ideas on specific issues. We are not in a contest showing who has won, who lost. Intellectual arguments on both sides make the debate that much richer and useful. We can both learn from each other.
My comment here on the failure or lack of foreign policy was directed to UAE. We have covered other spots in the globe in this blog. Here the discussion was not on Africa or Latin America, not even on the Middle East, but on UAE. I do believe Iran has failed here. When a country is so close, covering almost all your needs commercially and provide you with all banking access the country needed during its hardest times, and a great segment of the population is Iranian in origin, cutting ties is by definition a failure. Any country, Iran not exempted, can fail in its foreign policy toward another country.
In a recent post on a New Persian Gulf, I wrote that the Arab governments in the Gulf are following a much more aggressive policy toward Iran, led by Saudi calls to arm. Iran can dismiss this by throwing insults at them. Iran can also devise a new policy in dealing with a region much more active than even few months ago. Diplomacy is the art of doing the possible under worst situations. Sloganeering does not advance nor strengthen the country’s diplomacy.
nader this years iran will be aggressive right to the point in politics do not require to go around the push any longer at this mumment iran has strong strategy level can with stand vary easy west on banking statement no longer is issue for iran which has divers everything in diffend line up if you follow up iran will should know the section no longer useful to iran that mean is opposit effect to west ecconomy for uae has cross so many red line that iran must be very form to them that mean they are not the boss of those area also if you know the story of old lion the pgcc arab government are exactly like them, soon or later will be gone.it is for sure.
Mr. Uskowi, I fully support a "free flow of information" as you've suggested. I support and applaud your efforts to inform people on Iran and appreciate some of your postings. However, I think it goes without saying that many of your postings are "suggestive" and contain an anti-Iran bias. You have an agenda and you should make those clear in your "About" section or related otherwise it comes of as suspicious. I think you are seeing this to be true by the overwhelming number of negative comments you receive. You are not fooling anyone. If you are anti-Iran or you think you know how to run Iran better than the Iranians than it would be more honorable of you to make this clear in your "About" section so your readers know where you stand. Otherwise it comes off as devious and suspicious. We understand that in American politics going with the status quo is a popular trend and there are very few honorable men anymore willing to sacrifice their careers to fight for truth, and justice. Those that who do go against the status-quo get fired (Helen Thomas) and others like her. So we understand that you are concerned about your paycheck and career, maybe your family, this is understandable. It is unfathomable that anyone who looks at the history of US-Iranian relations with any degree of accuracy could ever fault Iran and take the position that you have. Most of the clowns who take your position are uneducated, content with going with the status-quo, or have an evil, twisted agenda. You Im sure are educated enough to know the truth so this means that you are just another "Status-quo" writer bent on remaining ignorant because this is what the status-quo in the beltway currently calls for. This same status quo is what got you in this huge mess with Iraq and Afghanistan otherwise the biggest con on the face of the earth which is the Iraq war would have never been pulled off if there were enough brave men with morality to come forward. It is this "status quo" that will dig your own graves. I simply ask that you make your intentions and your theme clear to your readers.
Now that Ive addressed that let me address you comment on UAE-Iran relations and those of the other Arab states in the Persian Gulf. You stated, "When a country is so close, covering almost all your needs commercially and provide you with all banking access the country needed during its hardest times, and a great segment of the population is Iranian in origin, cutting ties is by definition a failure." this is the core of your argument against Iran towards its relations with the UAE. Now, in case you didn't know the US and EU imposed wide-ranging sanctions against Iran for which the UAE supported and continues to enforce. Even those sanction items that are not covered in the UN resolution but are part of the "highly illegal" US and EU bi-lateral sanctions. This has already reduced Iran-UAE trade by more than 50%. So UAE-Iran commercial ties with Iran have already been reduced without Iran having to do anything. They were reduced by the UAE's puppet masters with the acquiescence of UAE authorities. Iran needs a reliable commercial partner and not one that will cut ties at the behest of Washington on a moments notice. So yes, over time Iran should reduce its commercial relationship with the UAE, this is a move in the right direction. Iran should diversify its commercial needs and ultimately shift its economic projects Eastward to Asia as it has been doing. The Asian economies are growing much faster than the corrupt, backwards, economies of the Gulf and better yet they do not conspire against Iran as the Gulf states do. Moreover, Iran has always wanted good relations with its neighbors but relations based on mutual respect. This while the UAE Ambassador to the US "Agreed" to a military strike on Iran. The Iranians are not like the Arab leaders in this regard and this is what so many people including yourself do not seem to understand. Who are the states in the region that Iran should bend over backwards to accommodate? These are tyrannical, dictatorships, that are hated by their own people! They hold zero legitimacy and credibility. You are smart enough to know that these are puppet regimes that are tools used by the West to oppress their own people and further Western and Israeli interests in the region. No country backs Tyranny in the west more than the US and Israel. If all Iran cared about was preserving its commercial and banking interests it could have left the Shah in power, been another client state, and joined the other puppet regimes in the Middle East. No, Im sorry whether you like it or not the future holds something much greater for the Iranians than the future of Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
These countries are completely obedient to US wishes and look where they are? Are they supposed to serve as examples to Iran? Who in their right mind would want to end up like them? Saudi Arabia and UAE both have serious economic problems despite this total obedience and lock-step with US foreign policy. It is sort of one of those "damned if you do damned if you dont" situations. The ONLY choice for Iran is to continue on its path of resistance and the path of unifying the Muslim world to counter western hegemony. You cant put a gun to Irans head like you can the Arab leaders and expect it to bow down. The Iranians are much more honorable people and you cant deal with the Iranians the same way you deal with the cockroaches who are in power in Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf states. This is what you and US Foreign policy makers fail to understand. I bet there are a bunch of people who in the US who work in Foreign Policy that dont know the difference between an Arab and an Iranian. haha You cant bribe the Iranians, you cant pressure them with sanctions, you cant conspire against them, support terrorist groups against them, use media propaganda, threaten military action, and use faecbook and twitter to deal with Iran. This might work with the weaker Arab rulers but not with Iran. To deal with Iran is very simple: Treat them with respect and fairness and they will do the same. There are some few people in this world who think beyond simple commercial interests, about money and status. There are still some few people in the world who are not willing to abandon their values who are honorable people, and stand for justice in this world. The Iranians are one of the few remaining examples of this. I know this is confusing for people who only think in $ signs. Capitalism has failed, governing based on profit maximization and not morality will always fail. Your policy and that of US policy towards Iran is a sickness and is not sustainable and neither is the West's method of governing the world. Can you seriously say to yourself with a clear conscience that US policy towards Iran is right?
Michael Scheuer who was a career CIA Analyst and Chief of the Bin Laden Unit has essentially taken the same position of Iran that the US should stop interfering in the ME, it should stop supporting puppet regimes, and instead of spending trillions on war it should invest in reducing its dependence on oil. Listen to the arguments of Michael Scheur, George Galloway, and even Robert Baer another CIA Career Veteran and try to prove their arguments wrong. I challenge you to do this.
I sincerely recommend that you change your stance on Iran, open your eyes to truth, you will feel better about yourself. Or at the very least have the common decency to make your position on Iran clear to your readers.
Anon 9:03 AM,
Thanks for your note. The authors of this blog, myself included, do this work on our free time from our day jobs. We do not profit from this site and our goal is to offer a narrative on the current developments in Iran, with emphasize on military, nuclear and foreign policy developments. Nothing more, nothing less. We have also opened our comment sections to the readers to encourage the exchange of ideas. Of course this policy has been abused, hence the need to filter out the comments and personal attacks of those few who seem to be doing this continuously and seemingly as a profession.
I also believe it is so important that we stop guessing the intentions of each other and start debating the specific issues at hand. Your arguments will be much more powerful and potent if you do not fall for analyzing the intentions of myself and those of other commentators. Let the debates take us where they take us. We might learn a thing or two in the process.
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