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Shia Crescent - Fact or Fiction

munaeem | 14 September, 2006 22:44

Once again, King Abdullah II of Jordan, has expressed concern at the growing influence of the Iran in the region. He expressed this feeling while giving an interview to Time Magazine.

He said: “The region is going through throes where there are other regional powers that are vying for supremacy in this area. Usually when that happens the net result is conflict and violence. [The Palestinian issue] is the core issue, one that should be dealt with very easily because there is something looming over the horizon that is a lot worse.”

Arabs feel that US intervention in Iraq, has given Tehran unique opportunity that it has not had for many years to exercise a dominant role. They fear that the rising of the Shias in the northern tier of the Arab world will destabilize the region.

With a Shiite Iraq now in Iran’s sphere of influence, and the Shiite leadership of Syria looking to Iran, Tehran is well on its way. Add in the powerful tool of Hezbollah—Iran and Syria’s made-to-order terrorist group—and we can see an Islamic alliance that will only grow in its ability to challenge the West.

This alliance between the Iran , the Alawite-rule Syria has frightened the traditional Sunni rulers of the region. King Abdullah of Jordan described this alliance as “Shia crescent”.

Vali Nasr, a Council for Foreign Relations fellow explains :“The first decade of Khomeini trying to mobilize Saudi Shiites, Lebanese Shiites and trying to stage a coup in Bahrain and cause trouble in Kuwait all hardened views.”

Khomeini threatened the countries around him. He threatened Iraq and he threatened Saudi Arabia and each responded in a wrong way. Iraq ended up attacking Iran.

The Dawa Party, Shi'a Islamist party in Iraq with many linkages, even to this day, to Hezbollah, which is active on the other side of the Middle East. It conducted attacks in Kuwait in 1983, bombing the French and U.S. embassies in December of that year and nearly successful assassination attempt against the emir of Kuwait in May 1985.

Grand Ayatollah Sistani has been calling for Parliamentary democracy and the exercise of the will of the people and to get the Shi'ites in al Hasa stirred up about that is maybe not the most preferable from Riyadh's point of view.

The real cause of the tension according to Iranian author Amir Taheri, is that “Iran intends to reshape the Middle East after its own fashion” (New York Post, August 8).

Ahmadinejad stated clearly his vision for the future of the region in his election campaign: “The Middle East can have either an American future or an Islamic one led by Iran.”

This kind of rhetoric has frightened the Arabs rulers. They are of the opinion that Israel is the devil they know, but Iran is the growing threat.

There is no doubt Shias in the Arab world share a common problem. It’s a problem of marginality. Whether they are majorities or whether they are minorities, they are marginalized from power. They are essentially asking for the same thing. And they do have an attachment to Iran. It’s an attachment of culture and faith, and does not mean that they are controlled by Iran.

It is good to hear that Arab Leaders like King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia realized this problem . He brought reforms , which helped shias to practice their religion freely.

King Abdullah is their hero now. Under King Abdullah, we can even see the shia clergy in the royal courts along with typical Wahabi clerics that hate the Shiite. The King is trying get to the Sunni traditional clergy to accept diversity and existence of other schools of thoughts in Saudi Arabia.

Other states should follow the example of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. Shias minorities should also try to be loyal to the country in which they live. The have a right to ask for equal opportunities in all affairs. But resorting to violence to get the these rights brings more miseries. They should also look for traitors among themselves who collaborate with outsiders, and want destabilize governments under the pretext of helping their coreligionists.

Comments

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CHUQ | 02/12/2006, 14:55

I found your link on US andWorld Political Forum and thought I would check it out. May I saw that I like your Blog, it is well written. It is nice to have an informed person on the Forum. I have tried to help the people think about what is going on in the region, but without others to help carry on the exchanges it is difficult at times.

I read the entry and would like to ask if the inclusion of the various entities, will it continue? Or is it that the monarchies in the region are worried about their positions with the rise of the radicals?

I mean no offense, I have just wondered about this for awhile now. I am by no means an expert, but in the past I have seen other nations give it to reform in an attempt to protect the ones in power.

Look forward to hearing from you

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Munaeem | 02/12/2006, 20:38

The contemporary Middle East is stronghold of modern dictators. Men whose energy cleverness, and ruthlessness enables them to master their countries. The behavior of Arab leaders has been shaped by a set of power of ruling values. They are supposed to be militant Arab nationalists, supportive of Islam, and opposed to western values and Israel.

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WEB | 02/12/2006, 22:58

I think this was a very interesting piece. The part about Iran's political calculations to gain control in the region and become a regional player is very interesting.

I've always seen Iran's moves as a diversion for their nuclear weapons ambitions. Something to throw the West off balance with and shift the debate away from its nuclear ambitions.

I really don't understand this rivalry between the Shi'ite and the Sunni. With all due respect to both sects, it really doesn't seem to make much sense. The differences between the two texts seems to be entirely historical and have very little by the way of actual theological differences.

Changing topic a little bit again, I'd say that I was surprised to hear Munaeem call for states to emulate Saudi Arabia's tolerance, even though Saudi Arabia is a monarchy (something Munaeem seems to oppose).

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munaeem | 02/12/2006, 23:20

I do not oppose monarchy.

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munaeem | 02/12/2006, 23:29

The Koran lays down rules to lead and simple honest life. I have not seen a single Muslim , who wants to lead life that way.
People you see are professing to be Muslim.

Saudis have enough land where they can relocate all the Palestinians. Arab Muslims are killing non-Arab Muslims in Darfur , Sudand . My people were massacred by Bengali Muslims. Thousands of them are still living in 66 refugee camps in Banglesh.

When any talks about Muslim Brotherhood or Ummah. I feel I should punch him.

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CHUQ | 03/12/2006, 00:10

I recently read an article about how Iranian government was mistreating the Arab minority in the southwest of the country. I believe they were both Shi'a. It makes no sense to prey on their sect brothers. I do not understand this in the least.

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Gumbercules | 08/12/2006, 21:39

The comment about Israel being the devil the arabs know about and Iran emerging as a threat is an interesting one. If Iran becomes a strong enough threat to the arabs it will also be a major threat to Israel. Do you think they would be willing to set aside their differences long enough to defeat Iran. If Iran is as ambitous as you say surely the arabs would understandt that once Iran dispatched Israel, they would be the next target.

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munaeem | 09/12/2006, 07:46

I recently read a news report about the meeting between Israelis and Saudis. I think Sunni Arabs feel now that Iran is greater threat than Israel.

Qatar is also trying to establish relationship with Israel.

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