MEMRI Special Dispatch |4735 |May 17, 2012
Article in London-Based Saudi Daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat: Confront Iran on Its
Home Turf
In a May 7, 2012 article in the London-based Saudi daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat,
Yemeni publicist and poet Mohammed Jumeh called on the Arabs formulate a
strategy for a political, cultural and financial confrontation with Iran, in
coordination with Turkey. This would be accomplished by intervening in
Iran's internal affairs and supporting the non-Persian minorities there in
their struggle to restore their rights. According to Jumeh, Iran conducts
wars on other countries' soil in order to distance danger from itself and
prevent an internal conflagration within its own borders; he therefore
recommends to give it a taste of its own medicine.
Following are excerpts from the article:[1]
Iran's Method Is "to Intervene in Struggles within Rival Countries, and Thus
Distance the Flames [from Itself]"
"Iran employs a clear strategy of exporting not just its Khomeinist
revolution, but also its internal problems. Its method is to intervene in
struggles within rival countries and thus distance the flames from its own
[internal] conflicts, so that the embers do not grow and erupt... Iran
understands that its internal situation is not good, and that the smallest
spark could cause these internal conflicts to burst into flame. Therefore,
it desperately [attempts] to establish battle fronts beyond its borders, in
order to distract its enemies and decrease the pressure exerted upon it. It
does not care about the death-toll caused by its external campaigns, or
about the fissures that its policy creates between peoples and among peoples
in the region. Nor does it care about the flames that still burn in Yemen,
Iraq, Lebanon, Bahrain and Syria...
"Iran's wars beyond its borders have an additional benefit, which is to make
it appear like a united country whose social fabric cannot be broken.
Therefore, Iran does not want its rivals to imitate its game, since they,
too, can achieve the results it obtains by conducting wars beyond its
borders.
"That is why the Arabs must now play this same game against Iran. In Iran
there are Sunnis and Shi'ites, and we must involve ourselves in the matter
the severe discrimination... that afflicts most of the Iranian Sunnis, who
don't have a single mosque in the capital... [Then there are] the people of
Iran's Ahvaz [region], who are fellow Arabs and fellow Muslims, and their
land is Arab land. They have their [own] history and political entities,
which Iran can never erase. We must support the Ahvazi Arab people in order
to restore its cultural and economic rights, and in order to lift some of
the pressure from the Arabs in Syria, Yemen, and the Gulf. Merely hinting
that we support the legitimate demands of the Ahvazi Arab people will cause
Iranian policymakers to understand that they live in a glass house. Iran
also has Kurds that suffer racial discrimination and conduct armed
resistance to restore their rights, which they have found in Iraq but not in
Iran. It also has Sunni Baluchi and Azerbaijanis, who are persecuted, and
with whom Arabs must make contact so that Iran realizes that it is not the
only one who can have a finger in every pie."
"In Their Relations with Iran, the Arabs Should Assume... a Policy of 'What
Goes Around Comes Around'"
"In their relations with Iran, the Arabs should assume a position of equal
power, based on a policy of 'what goes around comes around.' The Arabs will
have more power and resources if they adopt a unified policy regarding
Iran's greedy [coveting] of the resources of the peoples in the region. We
lack nothing but a clear strategy of confrontation – and I do not mean a
military confrontation, but rather a diplomatic, cultural and economic
confrontation with Iran, including a confrontation [conducted] from inside
its own territory.
"When you look at Iran from a distance, its [social] fabric seems very
homogenous. But a closer look reveals the [internal] conflicts within this
mosaic, and the Arabs must understand Iran's weakness at this time.
"Here we must also address the role of the Arab media directed at the
Iranian peoples. If Iran funds close to 40 Arabic-language satellite
channels that spread resentment, religious hatred, and sectarian strife [in
the Arab world], and are rife with anti-Arab Shu'ubiyya,[2] then at the very
least we must set up several Farsi-language satellite channels, to make Iran
understand that its own social fragility is greater than it realizes, and
also greater than the Arabs realize.
"Iran's current methods are reminiscent of the old European colonialists,
who meddled in our countries under the pretext of protecting Christian Arab
minorities, until they completely took over most Arab lands. Iran is doing
the same thing today when it meddles in Arab affairs under the pretext of
protecting Shi'ite Arab minorities... Just as the Christian minorities were
not the real reason that prompted the European colonialists to enter our
countries, the Shi'ite Arab minorities are not the real reason for Iran's
mad dash to meddle in our affairs. The [Iranian] goal is clear: to take over
resources in the region, break the will of its peoples, and enforce a
regional [Iranian] hegemony. If defense of Shi'ite Arabs was Iran's [real]
motive, then it would have granted [the non-Persian] Shi'ites in Iran their
full rights, instead of forcing them to speak Farsi and forbidding them to
preserve their cultural heritage."
The Arabs Should Coordinate with the Turks in Dealing with Iran
"Arabs today have no choice but to put aside [their] disagreements and unite
around an Arab plan – a plan whose outlines began to emerge as the peoples
of the region [began to express] their passion for freedom and justice [in
the Arab Spring]. Let us note that, in this matter, the Arabs can play the
regional-balance card in coordination with the Turks, in order to curb
Iran's rash [policies]. Turkey is growing close to the Arabs in order to
anger Europe, so why shouldn't we grow close to them in order to anger Iran?
Not to mention that the Turks are apparently engaged in a secular cultural
enterprise, and their conduct is more mature and relevant to the pace of
modern times than [that of] the Mullah regime, which continues to believe
that the hidden Mahdi controls the foundations of [human] existence as he
pleases..."
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[1] Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), May 7, 2012.
[2] The Shu'ubiyya was a spiritual movement in the early Abbasid period,
which operated among peoples conquered by the Arabs. The movement rebelled
against Arab supremacy and championed equality among all Muslims.
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