Region | Iran
Neighbouring Arabs wary of unrest in Tehran
Iran's Arab neighbours have long feared its revolutionary rhetoric, its political style, and its popularity among many of their own citizens for its strident criticism of Israel.
- By Liam Stack and Dan Murphy. Christian Science Monitor
- Published: 23:45 June 26, 2009
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Cairo/New York: Iran's Arab neighbours have long feared its revolutionary rhetoric, its political style, and its popularity among many of their own citizens for its strident criticism of Israel.
With that background, one would expect the Arab states to be jumping for joy at the political turmoil in Iran, a Shiite oil power.
But so far their response has been muted to non-existent.
Here's why: The mechanism that has created Iran's biggest political crisis since the Islamic revolution in 1979 is street power, the voice of a disenfranchised populace.
And while that might eventually deliver a regime in Iran that Arab states would be more comfortable with, it also provides a powerful immediate example of the sort of popular sovereignty that some regimes fear most.
"I think that most of these governments would be concerned about the images of popular demonstrations against the government because it, in a way, reminds them of their own vulnerability," said political scientist Thomas Mattair, author of the recent book Global Security Watch: Iran. "Whereas for the Arab public it would be encouraging."
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Indeed, it's something of a "Tehran Spring," says Nabeel Abdul Fattah at Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, a government-linked think tank in Cairo.
"Certain regimes fear the effects of what is going on in Iran," particularly since the methods of the protesters are easily replicable, he said. "Shouting 'Allahu akbar' [God is great] from the roof is something people all over the Middle East can do."
The Arab states have always been wary of Iran, even when it was ruled by the secular Shah.
But after his overthrow in 1979, the newly minted theocracy engaged in a bloody war with Iraq, whose defence was financed by Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states. In addition, the country's theocratic rulers aggressively sought to export their revolution and their vision of Islam to their neighbours.
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