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Iran
Relations with Regional Powers
The Persian Gulf States
Although the shah had been unpopular among the rulers of the
six states on the Arab side of the Persian Gulf, the Revolution
in Iran, nevertheless, was a shock to them. Iran under the shah
had been the main guarantor of political stability in the region.
Under the Republic, Iran was promising to be the primary promoter
of revolution. All six countries--Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar,
Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)--were ruled by
hereditary monarchs who naturally feared the new rhetoric from
Tehran. Indeed, during the first year following the Revolution,
throughout the Gulf region numerous acts of political sabotage
and violence occurred, claiming inspiration from the Iranian example.
The most sensational of these was the assault by Muslim dissidents
on the Grand Mosque in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Other
clashes occurred between groups of local Shias and security forces
in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Bahrain.
The outbreak of war between Iran and Iraq further alarmed the
Persian Gulf Arab states. In 1981 they joined together in a collective
defense alliance known as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
Although the GCC announced its neutrality with respect to the
Iran-Iraq War, Iran perceived its formation as part of the Iraqi
war effort and generally was hostile toward it. The GCC for its
part suspected Iran of supporting antigovernment groups throughout
the Persian Gulf. These concerns were heightened in December 1981,
when authorities in Bahrain announced the discovery of a clandestine
group that had plans to carry out sabotage and terrorist acts
as part of an effort to overthrow the government; several of the
plotters had links to Iranian clerics. In December 1983, a series
of bombings occurred in Kuwait, including incidents at the American
and French embassies; the Arab nationals who were captured and
charged with these acts of terrorism were members of an Iraqi
Shia movement, Ad Dawah, that was headquartered in Tehran. In
May 1985, a suicide driver unsuccessfully tried to kill the ruler
of Kuwait.
Despite GCC suspicions of Iranian involvement in subversive activities,
until 1987 more cooperation than confrontation was found between
Iran and the GCC members. In general, Iran avoided dealing with
the GCC as an entity, preferring to ignore its existence and to
treat each country separately. Iran's relations with the six component
states varied from friendliness to hostility. For example, Iran
and the UAE maintained relatively cordial relations. The political
ties between the two countries were reinforced by economic ties.
An Iranian mercantile community in the UAE was concentrated in
Dubayy, a city that emerged--following the destruction of Khorramshahr--as
an important transit center where international goods destined
for Iran were offloaded into smaller boats capable of entering
small Iranian fishing towns that served as ports of entry despite
their lack of docking facilities. In Bahrain, where the ruling
family was Sunni Muslim and a majority of the population was Shia,
lingering suspicions of Iranian intentions did not inhibit the
government from improving diplomatic relations with Tehran. Because
there were no outstanding issues between Iran and Qatar, relations
between them were generally correct.
Iran's relations with the other three GCC members--Kuwait, Oman,
and Saudi Arabia--have been more complex and, throughout the early
and mid-1980s, have been characterized by alternating periods
of tension and mutual accommodation. For example, immediately
after the Revolution, Iranian propaganda singled out the sultan
of Oman as an example of the kind of "un-Islamic tyrant" who should
be overthrown. This hostility sprang from the revolutionaries'
perception of the Omani ruler as having been a close friend of
the shah. Iran's view had developed in the 1970s when the shah
sent military assistance, including an Iranian military contingent,
to help the sultan crush a long-term rebellion. More significant,
however, the Iranian leaders regarded the sultan as subservient
to the United States. They denounced his policies of supporting
the Camp David accords, providing facilities for American air
crews who attempted the unsuccessful rescue of the hostages in
April 1980, signing an agreement for American military use of
the air base on Masirah Island, and discussing with the United
States construction of an airfield on the Musandam Peninsula overlooking
the Strait of Hormuz. Oman generally refrained from responding
to Iranian charges and consequently avoided an escalation of the
verbal barrages. Despite the many areas of friction, tensions
between Iran and Oman gradually abated after 1981. The movement
toward more correct diplomatic relations culminated in 1987 with
a state visit of the Omani foreign minister to Iran. Iran's relations
with Saudi Arabia and Kuwait were strained because both of these
countries provided major financial support to Iraq after the Iran-Iraq
War began. In addition, Iran accused them of providing logistical
assistance for Iraqi bombing raids on Iranian oil installations.
For their part, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait believed that Iran supported
subversive activities among their Shia minorities. They also resented
Iranian attacks on their shipping. Saudi Arabia annually confronted
embarrassing incidents during the pilgrimage season when Iranians
tried to stage political demonstrations. Nevertheless, both Saudi
Arabia and Kuwait made efforts to seek a rapprochement with Iran
in 1985 and 1986. The Saudi efforts were more successful and resulted
in an exchange of visits of the Saudi and Iranian foreign ministers
in 1985. The Saudis and Iranians also began to cooperate in some
areas of mutual interest, such as international oil policy. In
contrast, relations between Kuwait and Iran did not improve significantly.
In the fall of 1986, Iran began to single out Kuwait's ships for
retaliatory attacks, and this led to a worsening of diplomatic
relations.
Political tensions between Tehran and Kuwait increased significantly
after the United States agreed to reflag Kuwaiti oil tankers.
Iran accused Kuwait and its neighbors, especially Saudi Arabia,
of being mere puppets of the "Great Satan." During the pilgrimage
to Mecca in the summer of 1987, Iran encouraged the pilgrims--150,000
of whom had come from Iran--to demonstrate against the United
States and the corrupt rulers of the Gulf. More than 400 pilgrims,
including at least 300 Iranians, were killed in a stampede in
Mecca when Saudi security forces attempted to break up a demonstration.
Data as of December 1987
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