The Sunnis fear a nuclear Iran as much as the Israelis do.
Fear and loathing in Riyadh
by Jonathan Spyer
The Jerusalem Post
November 16, 2013
Western news coverage tends to depict Israel as the chief advocate for a hard line against the Iranian nuclear program.
But the concerns of the Gulf states, in particular Saudi Arabia, are of equal or greater urgency.
Since the foundation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the US has performed the role of protector for Riyadh. The departure of the British from the Gulf area in the early 1970s meant that the small Gulf monarchies also came to depend on the US for protection.
Washington has bases up and down the Arab side of the Gulf.
But the mere presence of these bases no longer bring a feeling of security. The Arab monarchs and emirs of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and United Arab Emirates) are watching with dismay as US President Barack Obama’s administration seeks rapprochement with Tehran.
It is Saudi Arabia which is most concerned. Riyadh is engaged in a struggle to contain and set back Iranian expansion across the region.
The Wikileaks revelations in 2010 made clear the extent of Saudi and Gulf concerns regarding Iran.
King Abdullah was famously quoted as demanding that the US “cut off the head of the snake” by launching military strikes against Iran’s nuclear program.
King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa of Bahrain, according to the cables, also argued for Western military action against the program.
Riyadh’s central concern is that the US simply fails to grasp the extent and the seriousness of Iran’s regional project. This, in their view, is part of a more general naivete – which has produced failed US policy in key areas of the Middle East over the last three years.