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Riyadh: Saudi Shura Council members and political analysts have denounced the recent statements made by Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mohammadi casting doubt on the legitimacy of some Gulf governments and traditional systems.
In statements to Gulf News they also slammed the statement of the Commander of the Land Forces of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Brigadier Mohammad Jafar Asdi, in which he said that the first step to be taken by Iran if attacked is to cut the oil supply and hit oil refineries in the region.
Dr Mohammad Al Zulfa, member of the Shura Council, described the statements made by the two Iranian officials as insulting not only to the GCC region but to the entire world.
"The recent Iranian media escalation in two successive days is a dangerous indication of how relations between the GCC and Iran will be," he said.
He added Iran had been displaying a hostile policy against GCC countries and it underestimated the abilities of these countries and ignored their right to build up international coalitions.
He said throughout the history of its diplomatic ties with the GCC countries, there was no single example of an Iranian tendency to build good neighbouring relations based on equality with any of these countries.
"In the current nuclear dispute between Iran and the international community, there is no indication that Iran pays any attention to the diplomatic weight of the GCC countries in the negotiations," he added.
"Whenever Iran faces any international pressure regarding its nuclear programme or its expansion policy in the region, it tends to escalate its threats against the GCC states.
"This indicates that Iran does not respect the good neighbourly relations although the GCC states reject the use of force by the US and Western countries against their neighbour Iran," he added.
Saudi political analyst Sa'ad Abdullah Al Ahmari said that Iran has never been interested in the stability of the Gulf region.
"The facts that appear to observers day after day through many long years show clearly that Iran is a country that does not seek to maintain peace and stability in the region as it is trying hard to possess a nuclear weapon and to support the Shias in Bahrain. This is in addition to its occupation of three UAE islands and its dispute with Kuwait on the sea borders between the two countries."
He described the statement of the Iranian official that tension in the region would remain as long some regimes exist in the Arabian Gulf as "confirmation that Iran's hostile policy towards the Arab states will never change".
Lecturer in International Relations at King Saud University, Saud Naif Al Otaibi, said the statements made by the two Iranian officials would have damaging consequences in the region.
"Such a statement will push the Gulf region to verbal wars between Iran and the GCC states. The scene of these wars is the press and its consequences will be the loss of trust and escalation of disputes and tension in the region."
Suhail Al Barakati, Saudi expert on Iran's Gulf relations, pointed out that although relations between the two sides are deeply rooted, they have always been characterised by hidden conflict.
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