Tensions Simmer Between Iran And Persian Gulf Arab Countries
Iran and neighboring Arab countries find themselves increasingly at odds as both sides are engaged in rhetoric that underscores their deep-seated differences.
Iran and neighboring Arab countries find themselves increasingly at odds as both sides are engaged in rhetoric that underscores their deep-seated differences.
Amid the persisting rivalries, the Gulf Cooperation Council of the Arab States condemned Iran on Friday for what they called “false” claims that prisoners were being treated badly in Bahrain, a long-time target of Iranian propaganda.
Hours earlier, Iran decried a statement issued at the end of the 157th session of the GCC Ministerial Council in the Saudi capital on Thursday about the “joint ownership” by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait of the maritime Arash/Al-Dorra (Al-Durra) oil and gas field.
The GCC’s foreign ministers cited the principles of the UN Charter on “good neighborliness and non-interference in the internal affairs of states,” calling on officials in Iran “to investigate accuracy and not rely on incorrect information.”
Manama itself had earlier rejected Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani’s claim that “unfavorable” jail conditions in Bahrain had led to a hunger strike by some 800 prisoners. Bahrain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Iran should “be more accurate and not to be misled by false information that harms relations between the two countries.”
A Reuters report quoted Bahrain’s General Directorate of Reform and Rehabilitation as saying that the number of detainees who have reported being on hunger strike had at no time gone beyond 124 and that their complaints were being addressed. The Bahraini body said the hunger strikers are provided with access to medical check-ups daily and none of them have required critical care or hospitalization. “Any claims to the contrary are false,” it said. “They reviewed a number of demands made by some inmates and submitted a detailed report to the relevant authorities,” Bahrain’s foreign ministry said.
The other issue of contention is a gas and oil field in the northwestern tip of the Persian Gulf straddling the maritime boundaries of Iran, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The two Arab states in recent months have been rejecting Iranian claims over the field and planning joint exploration. The GCC Ministerial Council’s rebuke over the issue was part of their comprehensive statement that rejected “any claims that any other party has rights in this field or the submerged area adjacent to the area divided by its designated borders between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the State of Kuwait.”
The joint offshore field -- called Arash in Iran and Durra by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait -- was discovered in 1967 and is estimated to have a total proven reserves of around 310 million barrels of oil and 20 trillion cubic feet of gas. Iran claims any development without its consent breaks international laws, and insists that 40 percent of the field located in its territorial waters. Saudi Arabia and Kuwait insist that Iran has no share in the field and the precise demarcation of the territorial waters can prove that. The disputed maritime field in the Persian Gulf has become a litmus test for the recent détente between Tehran and Riyadh as controversies surrounding it escalate.
“The ownership of the natural resources in the submerged area adjacent to the Saudi-Kuwaiti divided zone, including the entire Al Durra field, is joint ownership between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the State of Kuwait only, and they alone have full rights to exploit the wealth in that area,” the GCC statement said.
In March last year, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia started projects to extract gas from the field. Iran's foreign ministry spokesman at the time, Saeed Khatibzadeh said that as Iran has a share in the field it must be included in any action to operate and develop it. "The Arash/Al-Durra gas field is a joint field between Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Parts of it are located in areas between Iran and Kuwait whose water boundaries have not been defined,” he said.
Kanaani said on Friday, “The Persian Gulf littoral states should utilize the resources and subsoil of the Persian Gulf based on goodwill and historical rights in line with the common interests of the nations.”
He also dismissed the GCC claims about the three Iranian islands of Abu Musa, the Greater Tunb, and the Lesser Tunb in the Persian Gulf, describing them as an “eternal and integral” part of the Iranian territory. He said any claim about their ownership have no “political or legal value.”
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has repeatedly emphasized its territorial integrity and sovereignty over the three Iranian islands based on accepted principles and rules of international law,” the regime’s spokesman said.
The ruling in favor of the three children of Abbas Amir-Entezam was announced by Herischi and Associates, a Washington-based law firm that represented them in a US federal court in the District of Columbia.
The law firm sued the Islamic Republic and the Revolutionary Guards in July 2019 on behalf of Amir-Entezam’s children -- Ardeshir, Anoush, and Elham – who were 2, 6, and 9 at the time of his imprisonment.
Herischi and associates have also represented the families of ten crew members of Sanchi oil tanker, family of Omar “Chicho" Mahmoudzadeh, a US citizen who was killed in an Iranian ballistic missile and drone attack in Iraq, the families of victims of the Ukrainian flight PS752 which was shot down by Iran’s air defenses on January 8, 2020, shortly after it took off from Imam Khomeini Airport, Tehran, and US-based activist Masih Alinejad.
The plaintiffs who never saw their father again were awarded $3.25m in compensatory damages and $3.25m in punitive damages for a total of $6.5m each. Amir-Entezam passed away in Tehran in July 2018 at the age of 86. The fine is to be collected from Iranian funds in the US allocated to provide compensation to American victims of international terrorism.
Amir-Entezam was a France and US-educated civil engineer was appointed as deputy prime minister and government spokesman in the interim cabinet formed by Mehdi Bazargan immediately after the Islamic Revolution of 1979. He was sent to Sweden a few months later as ambassador when some political groups objected to his qualifications.
Amir-Entezam was summoned from Sweden and was arrested upon his arrival at Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport in December 1979, soon after revolutionary students took over the US embassy in Tehran and was later charged with spying for the United States based on embassy documents the students had seized.
These documents were minutes of the meetings between Amir-Entezam and the US ambassador and other diplomats in Tehran when he was deputy prime minister.
Amir-Entezam who was one of the first political prisoners, and the longest-held, in the Islamic Republic, always insisted the charges of espionage and said these had held routine diplomatic meetings.
He also alleged that he had been a victim of the prevalent anti-American atmosphere in the country at the time, created by the Soviet Union and the Toudeh party in Iran which upheld Soviet interests.
The former official and diplomat was reportedly held in solitary confinement for over 550 days without access to lawyers during which time he was subjected to many tortures. He was subsequently sentenced to death by a revolutionary Court.
The death sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment with Bazargan’s help. It took seventeen years before Amir-Entezam was allowed to leave the prison and live in his own house, under constant supervision.
Even his limited freedom did not take long, and he was sent back to prison three months later in 1998 after criticizing Assadollah Lajevardi, the warden of the Evin Prison where he had been held, in an interview with the Voice of America, and calling him “an executioner”.
Amir-Entezam was released and sent back to prison twice more after that for objecting to the principle of a ‘Supreme Leader’ being the absolute ruler of the country and proposing a referendum on the Constitution in his interviews and writings. In 2003 authorities decided to release him from prison due to serious health issues but he was never allowed to leave the country.
Some Iranians have criticized the ruling and similar cases when US courts awarded monetary judgments to plaintiffs to be paid from Iran’s funds in the United States. They argue that these funds belong to the Iranian people and should be returned once the Islamic Republic ceases to exist.
US officials told Reuters Friday that the infrastructure deal could reconfigure the landscape of trade in the Eurasia region, linking Middle Eastern countries by a network of railways and connecting to India through shipping lanes, bypassing Iran in trade routes from Asia to Europe.
The talks, which have also included the United Arab Emirates and Europe, may yield a concrete result in time for an announcement on the sidelines of this week's Group of 20 (G20) leaders meeting, the sources said. Axios said earlier in the week that the plan would be announced on Saturday.
The announcement came as US President Joe Biden is on his way to the G20 conference in New Delhi, India, where he is set to meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and may also have talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The plans for a sweeping, multi-national ports and rail deal would potentially counter China's growing influence through the Belt and Road global initiative as Biden is pitching Washington as an alternative partner for an investor in developing countries at the G20, especially in the Indo-Pacific region. According to The Brookings Institution, “China’s growing role in the Middle East is positioning the rising superpower in direct confrontation with shifting US interests in the domains of energy security, Israel, and Iran.”
The project, being discussed for 18 months, is seen as a part of the Biden administration’s mega deal that would have Saudi Arabia recognize Israel. The strategic concept of the "Indo-Abrahamic Alliance" has laid the framework for the formation of the I2U2 group, a grouping of India, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States.
Biden’s national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to the summit that it was an initiative the US was invested in along with its partner countries, and that there was a "broad understanding of many of the key elements.”
"Many of the elements of a pathway to normalization are now on the table. We don't have a framework, we don't have the terms ready to be signed. There is still work to do," Sullivan added. Biden himself said in early July that Israel and Saudi Arabia were a long way from a normalization agreement that would also involve a US-Saudi defense treaty and a civilian nuclear program for the Saudis from the United States.
US officials see a potential deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia as possible after the administration of then-President Donald Trump reached similar agreements between Israel and Morocco, Sudan, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
In addition to the diplomatic implications, the project could reduce shipping times, costs, the use of diesel and make trade faster and cheaper, potentially making Iran redundant in the transit of goods in the region.
In May, Iranian lawmaker Mojtaba Yousefi admitted that Iran has been supplanted by Turkey as the region’s transport hub despite Tehran’s ambitions. Iran suffers from poor infrastructure that makes a mockery of its ambitions in recent years to be the leader. The country’s roads and railways are in need of significant upgrades, while the ports are not equipped to handle the large volumes of cargo that would be necessary for Iran to become a regional hub. Political instability and economic sanctions mean the situation is highly unlikely to improve any time soon.
However, Tehran Times, a pro-regime publication, said in an article last year that the Russian invasion of Ukraine, “despite its grave consequences for many countries, has presented Iran with a golden opportunity to realize the long-awaited goal of becoming the global transit hub it once was,” referring to the Silk Road, an ancient network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century that span over 6,400 kilometers (about 3976.78 mi).
Hit by sanctions that severely hampered trade of Russian goods, Moscow sought alternative routes for global distribution, with a renewed focus on the International North-South Transit Corridor (INSTC), the daily claimed. The agreement for launching INSTC was signed by Iran, India, and Russia in 2000, however, despite all the hype, the project yielded no results mainly due to the US sanctions on Iran.