Kuwait and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states have seen major security developments and changes at the helm with the departure of GCC Secretary-General Abdul Rahman Al Attiyah, who handed over the reigns to the Bahraini Abdul Lateef Al Zayani.
They have also seen more than their usual dose of crises, challenges and meddling in their affairs. As the GCC is gearing up to celebrate its 30th anniversary, it is grappling with security dilemmas and its lack of hard power assets to deter potential enemies.
In the meantime, closer home we have tasted the flavour of what others have been experiencing, particularly in Bahrain and Oman. Both countries have experienced uprisings.
In fact, it was more of a violent sectarian coup attempt in the case of Bahrain, in which King Hamad Bin Eisa Al Khalifa attributed decades of plotting to undermine Bahrain and other GCC states to Iran's meddling in GCC affairs. The situation in Bahrain led to a show of solidarity from other members of the alliance, in terms of political, financial, economic and military support.
In my last column I argued that the GCC states find themselves in the crosshairs again. What preoccupies the GCC leadership and citizens alike are the unsettling upheaval in Bahrain, the plotting against Kuwait by Iranian spy cells and Kuwait's political drama about the bickering and acrimony between the feisty parliament and the cowed cabinet. The Kuwaiti accusation against Iran about conspiring to undermine Kuwait's security and stability came as the sixth Kuwaiti cabinet resigned last Thursday.
Iran has loomed large for decades and has been a force for instability with the capacity for mischief in the region. Sidelining Iraq exacerbated the situation where Iran stepped in to fill the vacuum with its grand project, proxies and ideological-sectarian agenda. The cold war between Iran and the GCC states, spearheaded by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait, is impacting the whole region and pushing it towards the abyss.
These ominous events in the Gulf took a turn for the worse with the indictments handed out by a Kuwaiti court last week against a Kuwaiti and Iranians for involvement in spying and setting up sleeper cells in Kuwait.
Kuwait recalled its ambassador and expelled three Iranian diplomats after declaring them persona non grata. Kuwait knows fully well that it will not gain much by standing up to Iran, let alone throw hollow accusations or take provocative steps against its large and menacing neighbour.
It seems Kuwait snapped and was taken aback by the Iranian mischief, considering its traditionally good neighbourly relations with Iran. This is a major development considering the heightened sectarian and security situations in the Gulf.
Conspiracy
Kuwait's foreign minister Shaikh Mohammad Al Sabah angrily accused Iran, before the foreign relations committee in the Kuwaiti Parliament. "The court deliberations regarding the Iranian spy cell have shown, shockingly, a conspiracy hatched unfortunately by official organs in Iran to undermine Kuwait's security, and military, political and economic wellbeing.
It is unfortunate for this to come from a country which we opposed any military action against, launched from our soil or airspace." This issue has galvanised all Kuwaitis, with broad GCC support.
It all started with the publication in the leading Kuwaiti newspaper Al Qabas of a report on the existence of eight spy cells in Kuwait, quoting Gulf security sources. It said that Iranian embassies in all GCC states run these cells, and Iranian meddling in Bahrain is part of this conspiracy targeting all GCC states.
The GCC heads of security and intelligence held cooperation and coordination meetings and did not rule out the discovery of other spying cells in other GCC states.
As expected, the Iranians not only denied their involvement in spying in Kuwait, but upped the ante when the National Security and Foreign Relations committee in the Iranian Majlis Al Shura accused ‘Saudi Arabia of playing with fire in the region' and asking the Saudis to withdraw their forces from Bahrain and accused them of ‘interfering in the affairs of other countries'.
The Saudis responded angrily and refuted the ‘irresponsible Iranian statement and overlooking its history of meddling in the region's affairs, and violating the sovereignty of countries in the region and inciting Fitna or chaos and instability through its violation of international law and good neighbourly relations.
This was manifested by the discovery of the spying cells in Kuwait and violation of Bahrain's sovereignty and rejection of Bahrain's right to request the support of the GCC's Peninsula Shield."
The calls for a new approach by GCC states to better handle these crises and challenges were voiced by the director of the King Faisal Centre for Islamic Research and former Saudi ambassador to Washington, Turki Al Faisal who, at the annual Emirates conference in Abu Dhabi, called on the GCC states to form ‘a union, like the European Union' and ‘establish a united Gulf army'.
Hinting at Iran he stated "others [must be prevented] from forcing their choices on us in order to weaken our military power". He made it clear that there was nothing to prevent Saudi Arabia from obtaining nuclear weapons if it failed in its efforts to persuade Iran to give up its military nuclear programme and to rid the Middle East of weapons of mass destruction.
The real victims of these dramatic and ominous developments are the confidence building measures and the rising suspicions and lack of trust between the two sides. The onus is on the Iranians to cease and desist from carrying on with their current policy. Once again, the GCC states are scrambling to stave off imminent threats and challenges. It seems we have to get used to living dangerously.
