At a time when President Muhammad Morsi was receiving Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, the assistant of the Egyptian president, Imad Abdul Ghafour, was inaugurating at the heart of Cairo and a few meters away from these talks a conference for the support of the Arab Ahvaz population, which is the first of its kind to be held in an Arab country. The fact that the official Iranian visit coincided with the organization of the conference did not prevent the new Egyptian authority from holding it, despite the progress and rapprochement witnessed at the level of Egyptian-Iranian relations. Moreover, the conference's inauguration by the Egyptian president's assistant constituted a significant step. As for the event itself, it lasted two days, discussed the various facets of the Ahvaz cause, stressed the necessity of showing caution vis-à-vis the Iranian threat and its expansionist, sectarian and populist tendencies and called on the Arab states to adopt the cause and help the Ahvaz population restore its violated rights by Iran, ever since it gained control over the province under the leadership of Reza Shah in 1925. The Iranian minister's visit to Cairo is not the first, and is actually the third since the fall of Hosni Mubarak's regime in 2011. However, the current visit acquired wide political importance following the leaking of unconfirmed information, talking about another visit which preceded it and was conducted by leader of the Qods Brigade Qassem Soleimani to Egypt. It was thus said that the latter met with one of the Egyptian president's advisors who holds a prominent position within the Muslim Brotherhood group, in order to ensure the passing on of the Iranian experience in the security and military fields to the Egyptian side. There is no doubt that these leaks, in parallel to the preliminary rapprochement between the two countries, is alarming the Arab Gulf states and requires them to investigate the veracity of this alleged meeting. Such a move would aim at checking the extent of the Egyptian commitment to the fact that “Gulf security is part of Egypt's security," considering that it could be mere talk for media consumption, at a time when the political steps are underway. The sources also spoke about an Iranian wish to develop the relations with Egypt, which is a right for both countries, seeing how states – such as the Gulf ones – that enjoy diplomatic relations and commercial, economic and security agreements with Tehran, cannot hold Egypt accountable for such a sovereign step or consider it is committing a strategic mistake. Nonetheless, and in my opinion, the danger at the level of such relations resides in what was said by some Egyptian sources who downplayed the importance of the divergence between Cairo and Tehran over the Syrian crisis that is provoking concerns on the Arab street. They thus pointed to the fact that the Egyptian government “is now convinced of the political choice adopted by the Iranian government," one which goes against the proclaimed Gulf policy in regard to the support of the Syrian people. In this context, some believe that the Egyptian-Emirati dispute over the “Muslim Brotherhood cell in the Emirates" might have contributed to the enhancement of Iranian-Egyptian relations. On the other hand, Egypt's staging of a conference for the support of the Ahvaz population should be encouraged, considering that such a preemptive step which reveals its wish to restore its strength and status in the region should not be belittled, especially in light of what was featured in the conference's closing statement that was read by Sabah al-Moussawi. According to Al-Youm al-Sabeh newspaper, the convened assured that the time had come for the Ahvaz cause to occupy the first position on the agendas of the Arab and international organizations. Therefore, some believe that the Egyptian step was temporary, and constituted some sort of a trade-off with Iran using a local cause, before the full resumption of the relations. This is due to the simple fact that Egypt is also filled with parties and movements competing with the Muslim Brotherhood over power, and even if the Egyptian government showed it is not sponsoring the conference, it is approving and supporting it. What was noticeable during this conference was the harsh language used against Iran, the fierceness of the closing statement and the insistence of the Islamic powers which participated in it on the staging of similar ones every year, in order to show support to the Arab Ahvaz population. The conference also agreed to establish a general secretariat to follow up on the implementation of its recommendations and the organization of future gatherings, which means that the Egyptian government wishes to bring the Ahvaz cause to the forefront of the Arab-Iranian relations and at the heart of the negotiations between the two countries. There is no doubt that confusion is currently prevailing in Iran, due to the international siege imposed on it on one hand, and the popular siege imposed on its allies in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon (Hezbollah) on the other. Hence, it is rushing to find exits and new alliances in the region through rapprochement with Egypt and Tunisia, knowing – in this context - that it invited a Tunisian delegation of 14 university professors who recently visited the Imam Jaafar al-Sadek University that is affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in Tehran. In previous articles, I had called on the Gulf states in particular and the Arab states in general to adopt the Ahvaz cause, seeing how it is originally an Arab Emirate, that the vast majority of its population includes Arab Shiites and Sunnis and that oppression and tyranny are practiced on the Shiites as much as they are practiced on the Sunnis. Still, these pure Arabs never succumbed to the consecutive Iranian governments, and once they find Gulf and Arab support based on an action plan and a clear political project, they will be able to regain their rights and influence Iran's foreign policy. They will even push Tehran to drink from the cup it is trying to force onto Gulf and Arab states, by interfering in their internal affairs and expanding at their expense. [email protected] twitter | @JameelTheyabi
