The Gulf populations do not know the nature of their countries' relationship with Iran and the reasons behind the tensions affecting their ties! Who fears whom? Who is humoring whom? Who is trying to entice the other or gain time, while raising the banner of the patience policy and the respect of neighbors? There are tensions affecting Gulf-Iranian relations and permanent Gulf complaints against Iranian interference in the affairs of the Gulf countries. Moreover, Iran is occupying the three Emirati islands, and keeps threatening from time to time that Bahrain is a province which is affiliated with it, and which it must regain. However, the relationship is ongoing, the embassies are open and the delegations are proceeding with their visits! What is certain is that the patience of the Gulf states extends from the Sea to the Sea, and I fear that a great catastrophe will emerge before this patience runs out, leading the region into an Iranian-made swamp. Then, we might say it is too late, and the next generations will feel disgruntlement towards the silence policy adopted vis-à-vis Iran's practices which have wreaked havoc throughout the region. Following the earthquake in Iran, Arab Gulf states rushed to deny they were affected by it, as though they were required to make such a denial, or as though their populations were destined to listen to such statements. This is instead of learning about the extent of the impact of these earthquakes on the Bushehr nuclear reactor, the lives of their populations and the future of their children, i.e. on the entire Gulf region, knowing that there is a heavy health, human, environmental and material cost. Iran was affected by the most violent earthquake in about half a century. It struck the southeastern part of the country on the border with Pakistan, caused the death of dozens of people, and shook the Gulf states and India. This earthquake came one week after another 6.3-magnitude quake which resulted in the death of around 40 people in the Bushehr province (southwest of Iran), and provoked fears over radiation leaks from the Bushehr nuclear reactor, although Tehran and Moscow denied that the facility was damaged. There are popular Gulf concerns in regard to the leaks from the Bushehr reactor, as any radioactive leaking from the reactor would be destructive and would jeopardize people's lives. This is especially due to the fact that Bushehr is closer to Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Manama and Al-Shariya region in Saudi Arabia than it is to the Iranian capital Tehran. During the last few days, and following the earthquake that struck Bushehr, the Gulf populations circulated on YouTube a televised interview with Dr. Omar Bin Abdul-Aziz al-Zayd, who extensively warned – as others did – against the effects of the Bushehr reactor on the Gulf citizens' lives, and discussed the fact that this nuclear reactor was located 1,600 kilometers away from Tehran, but was only 200 kilometers away from Kuwait. Al-Zayd also mentioned that Gulf water was desalinated due to the scarcity of surface water, and that the one which the people of Riyadh and the other Gulf states were drinking was desalinated water from the Arab Gulf. He added that “if there is a strong earthquake, it will destroy the life of the Arab Gulf populations who will not find one drop of water to drink in the event of a nuclear leak. Hence, the desalination plants would stop operating and the people would not drink water containing lethal nuclear radiations." He continued: “Had the magnitude of the last earthquake been a bit higher, (i.e. magnitude 8), and had there been a crack in the Bushehr reactor causing radiation leaking, the people of the Gulf would have died of thirst and would not have found anything to drink." Al-Zayd then pointed to the fact that the Zagros Mountains area near the Bushehr reactor was considered to be seismic, and was mentioned by seismologists who assured that imminent earthquakes will be seen in it. He thus cautioned: “O people of the Gulf, O GCC, file a complaint before the United Nations and the Security Council to distance this reactor, which will destroy the environment and all forms of life. If indeed there is a leak caused by earthquakes, it will destroy everything on its path. And remember that the effects of nuclear radiation remain for hundreds, even thousands of years." Al-Zayd continued that Iran is well aware of the fact that Bushehr is a seismic area, but did not care because nothing bad will happen to it. It knows that it is separated from Bushehr by the Zagros Mountains (5,000 meters high) and that the reactor is located 1,600 kilometers away from its capital. Nonetheless, it is not very far from Qatar, the Emirates, Kuwait and Dammam. He indicated that Iran was depleting the oil, gas and water in the Arab Ahvaz region and that it was not settling for that, since it built this “damned" reactor and placed it in Bushehr near the Gulf states. He also pointed to the fact that the Russian technology which was used in the nuclear reactors was poor and inferior, referring to what happened in Chernobyl as an example. What is certain is that Iran is politically provoking the Gulf states, while imposing a media blackout on the nature of its nuclear reactor and the size of the cracks and radiation leaks provoked by the consecutive earthquakes, and this increases the fears over its nuclear safety with each quake. Despite that, it is refusing to listen to its neighbors and to international warnings, which ought to push the Gulf states to file a complaint before the Security Council and ask the International Atomic Energy Agency to dispatch a specialized team to inspect the Iranian nuclear reactor in Bushehr following the last earthquake. This team would thus check its safety, make sure it does not contain any radioactive leaks, and examine the possible damage which was caused to it and which could lead the region and its people towards a catastrophe. In addition, the Gulf states should reject their exclusion and demand that they participate in the meetings and talks between the West and Iran in regard to its nuclear program, considering that its direct repercussions affect the Gulf populations before any other. By doing so, they would not remain on the stands while unable to impact the outcome of the game, and would prevent any Western-Iranian deal that does not take their vital interests into account.
