Iran has been insolently occupying Arab Emirati islands for about four decades, blocking the door before peaceful negotiations, rejecting the international justice court and perceiving its occupation of the islands as being a conflict over islands in the Gulf, although it is well aware of the Arab identity of the latter islands and their ownership by the Emirates. It is as though implementing the saying: “Oppose cries with cries and you shall be safe,” or "the best defense is offense.” Muhammad al-Yassin (an Iraqi politician) said: “Throughout decades, the Iranians have tried to suffocate the Arab and Emirati characters of the Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunb islands by displacing their Arab populations, establishing Iranian projects, an airport and a military base and mutilating the historical facts with devious fabrications.” Last week, Emirati Foreign Minister Abdullah Bin Zayed responded to a question addressed to him during the meeting of the Federal National Council of the Emirates in regard to the status of the three Emirati islands occupied by Iran since 1971 by saying: “The occupation of these islands by Iran is not any different from the occupation of Arab lands by Israel.” Three days later, Iran warned the Emirates with a language of “arrogance and insolence,” describing the Emirati statements as being “arrogant and insolent” and considering that its occupation of the three islands was a matter of conflict not an occupation. Indeed, the spokesman of the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Ramin Mehman-Parast, stated: “The quotes that were conveyed about the Iranian islands and the comparison that was made between the Republic of Iran and the regime occupying Jerusalem has raised the sensitivity of our population and will generate harsh reactions in the ranks of the Iranian people.” As long as he thinks that his people will feel extreme sensitivity toward the Emirati statements, I do not know why Mehman-Parast and the government of Ahmadinejad do not think that the populations of the Gulf states are “extremely sensitive” and to a very high extent toward Iran's occupation of Arab lands for forty years and that their patience is starting to run out in light of the Iranian ongoing practices, skirmishes and threats in the region. About a year ago, Ali Akbar Nategh-Nouri, the head of general inspection in the office of the leader of the Islamic revolution in the Iranian city of Mashhad, claimed Bahrain's affiliation with Iran and described it as being the fourteenth Iranian province used to be represented by a deputy in the Shura Council. In July of 2007, the advisor of Supreme Guide Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the chief editor of the official Kayhan newspaper, Hossein Shariatmadari, wrote in the paper's lead editorial that Bahrain was part of the Iranian territories and that it separated from Iran following an illegal settlement between the Shah and the US and British governments, adding that the main demand of the Bahraini people for the time being was to restore this province to the mother land (Iran). At the time, the Gulf Cooperation Council strongly condemned these “hostile statements” which were issued by Iranian officials, expressing its deep discontent toward the Iranian claims and allegations against Bahrain. Saudi Arabia thus said: “The issuance of such irresponsible statements marks an attempt to falsify the facts of history and geography. They constitute a blunt attack on the sovereignty of a member state in the Gulf Cooperation Council, the Arab League and the United Nations and an attack on the identity and Arab belonging of the Kingdom of Bahrain.” These positions by the Gulf states and Saudi Arabia toward any threats or attacks affecting a member state in the GCC are to be thanked. In this context, during his visit to Bahrain last week, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz stressed that as countries and people, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain were one in the good times and bad times. This was considered a clear message from the big sister, addressed to whoever tries to attack Bahrain or any other state in the Arab Gulf, especially since Iran has tried to feel the pulse of Saudi Arabia through the activation of the Houthi rebels and their instigation to enter its Southern territories and violate its sovereignty. The Saudi command thus delivered a strong message saying that Saudi sovereignty was a red line and that fire and gunpowder will be the only response to defend the land and the honor. Moreover, at a time when the international forces are about to impose sanctions on Iran and at a time when antagonistic positions are growing “increasingly heated” between the latter and the Gulf countries, a Qatari military delegation was attending the recent Iranian military maneuvers under the pretext that they aimed at protecting the security of the region and stability in the Gulf waters and assuring that they did not pose a threat on neighboring states. We wish the Qatari delegation had only attended these maneuvers without issuing pieces of advice, but its head - General Abdul Rahim al-Janahi - called for benefitting from the experiences of the Iranian armed forces because it is a major state enjoying massive capabilities, while disregarding Iran's dream to control the Arab Gulf region and to monopolize its territories, natural wealth and oil wealth. The man also disregarded the fact that no Iranian statements can be dealt with lightly or perceived based on the principle of good intentions or political idiocy, considering that each and every position stems from underlying and dangerous intentions and a wild wish to expand in the region at the expense of the Gulf countries. The positions of the Arab Gulf states should be unified in the face of the Iranian intentions, so that Iran realizes that the Gulf countries will not be easily defeated and will not fear the threats, skirmishes, maneuvers and arrogance featured in the rhetoric. As the Arabs used to say: “Those who use big words, will be humiliated.” Therefore, whether Iran were to use big words, multiple ones or fabricated ones, this will not convey courage as much as it will convey fears and suspicions. Even if it were to threaten to undermine the Gulf, “Persianize” it or close the Strait, the Gulf and its people will remain Arab.
