Middle East News
By Pakinam Amer
May 19, 2007, 18:31 GMT
Dead Sea, Jordan - Saudi Arabia's hopes of achieving dominance on the regional political arena, and establishing its presence as both a broker and a peace negotiator, seems to be challenged by another power - Iran, which shares its borders.
Saudi Arabia, now a key regional player, has been gradually increasing its involvement in addressing the concerns, issues and conflicts threatening Middle East stability at a time when Egypt's role is taking a nosedive.
In Mecca, the Saudis brought together Palestinian factions, and in last March's Arab League summit the Islamic kingdom figuratively extended a hand to Lebanon, facing one of the worst standoffs in its modern history, and Iraq, ripped apart by confessional and sectarian differences.
On Saturday, however, Iran's attempts to be in itself a power broker in the Arab region were confirmed - showing to Saudi Arabia how serious it is in pursuing its interests in the Arab world.
During the Jordan-based World Economic Forum, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki underplayed the importance of a Saudi- backed four-year-old Arab-Israeli peace initiative, vehemently insisting that it is bound to fail.
'Despite of the good (intentions) of some countries and some parties to protect the right of Palestinians, we do believe that either due to the plans or due to the other side's approach, all of those plans will fail,' said Mottaki. 'If we talk based on realities, I do not see any chance.'
The remarks, paradoxically, came during a plenary session entitled 'Stability in the Broader Middle East: Who's taking the Lead?'
The session brought together the leaders of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Jordan, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia who discussed the key players in the region, cooperation between neighbours and an ambitious inclusion strategy that the Arab neighbours wish to employ.
The 2002 Arab initiative, which Mottaki addressed and which the session's participants focused on, promises full normalization with Israel and Arab recognition of the Jewish state in return for a full Israeli pullout from the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967, including East Jerusalem, and a withdrawal from the Golan Heights in Syria and some territories in southern Lebanon.
The proposal also includes terms that would guarantee the right of return to thousands of Palestinian refugees stranded in poor conditions across hosting Arab countries.
But at its core, the initiative accepts a two-state solution, which Iran is adamant in rejecting outright.
It's also Saudi-backed, and is aggressively promoted by the Islamic monarchy and enjoys the blessing of Arab states such as Egypt and Jordan.
Instead of joining powers, Mottaki said that Iran has a better proposal - a 'democratic free and fair referendum' where, in his words, original Muslim, Christian and Jewish Palestinians would vote and choose their regime.
In an evening session entitled 'Iran and the region,' he confirmed his stance saying that in principal he is not against an Arab initiative, but believed that this one will not work.
'Five million refugees will not be accepted by the Israeli regime,' he insisted.
He said his country does not recognize Israel's regime, neither does it see it as legitimate or even legal.
But that does not mean that Iran aims to destroy Israel - an apparent change of heart that surprised many political experts on Saturday, and that could very well be momentary in face of growing international pressures.
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had in the past issued fiery remarks against the Jewish state, vowing to 'wipe' the country off the map.
But on Saturday, Mottaki said that 'primary school students know that it's not possible to remove a country from the map. And that is very clear.'
Mottaki, speaking to reporters in forum, said that the important conditions outlined in the Saudi-proposed initiative will not see the light.
'We can recognize more than 132 plans for peace in the last 30 years. Why were these plans or initiatives not met or realized?' Mottaki asked.
He insisted that 'Iran was and is always a part of the solutions to the crisis in the region,' a saying which does not contradict the position made clear earlier by Iranian leadership, which said Arab countries and the US must cooperate with Iran for more stability.
Motakki's remarks clearly did not appeal to Saudi's delegation head and top diplomat Prince Turki al-Faisal al-Saud. Saudi discomfort was the strongest.
For his part, al-Saud commented by saying that he believed that 'the reality says that Iran should be on board. The wishful thinking says why should they?'
'This is an Arab issue. This is a Palestinian issue which should be solved in Arab-Palestinian context. Unfortunately, the Palestinian conflict lends itself to outside interference,' said al-Saud, whose tone betrayed discontent with the stringent Iranian stance, and did not hide Saudi disgruntlement at Iran's growing and inevitable influence on the region.
'If the Palestinians were from the very beginning united, we would not face the situation we are facing today.'
He said that if the Palestinians continue 'killing each other,' the Arab initiative will not get the region anywhere.
'This makes it imperative that we reacquire our fate in our own hands,' he said, adding that in this case neither the US, Israel nor any foreign state would be needed to interfere.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
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