Dubai: The Iranian rhetoric about its self-acclaimed title "The master of the Persian [Arabian] Gulf" and the news about dismantling a spy network in Kuwait last week cast doubt about the future of peaceful relations between the Gulf countries and Iran.

"A number of serious incidents that took place in the past couple of weeks suggest that tension is building up between Iran and its Gulf neighbours," said Dr Abdul Khaliq Abdullah, political analyst and professor of international relations at the UAE University in Al Ain.

Abdullah said tension is building on a number of fronts and unless leaders on both sides of the rim sit together to discuss their problems, regional peace would be jeopardised.

Iranian officials denied any link to the Kuwait spy ring and alleged that newspaper reports are meant to destroy the image of the Revolutionary Guards which they described as ‘growing high in the Gulf region.'

In a commentary broadcast this week, Iranian news agency Irna claimed that there is only one lion guarding its den in the ‘Persian [Arabian] Gulf' which is Iran, adding that countries in the region should stop chasing the lion like a hyena to get part of the leftover food.

Network

Dr Abdullah said spy allegations are hurled sometimes even between friends. But according to him, media reports about busting a big network in Kuwait and the objective set for the operation suggest that Iran is not respecting the ethics of good neighbourliness.

Also, he said there are local and international groups that do not like to see normal relations between Iran and its neighbours. "Such parties see the current escalation of tension as an ideal time to break the historical relations between people on both sides of the rim," he said.

The Kuwait spy ring, Dr Abdullah said, if confirmed, would shake the wellbeing of thousands of Iranian expatriates in the Gulf and will open the issue of sleeper cells across the region.

Anyway, he said the Kuwaiti incident is not an isolated case. Last week, a Bahraini anti-narcotics official told a security conference in Riyadh that Iran is involved in pushing illegal narcotics activities into the markets of the region.

"A number of smugglers admitted that tangible facilities were offered to them by specific Iranian authorities to help in smuggling narcotics into the Gulf," Dr Abdullah said.

Commenting on the recent developments in Kuwait, Riad Kahwaji, Director General of the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis (INEGMA), told Gulf News the details of the Iranian spy ring and the objectives of its operation have still to be confirmed by Kuwaiti officials.

He said the preliminary report about the spying activities is not justifiable under any circumstances. "Kuwait has no issue with Iran yet and it has always been supportive to maintaining good relationship between the Gulf countries and Iran under the neighbourhood and the Islamic brotherhood umbrellas.

"There was no need for the recent complications in the relations and the reaction to the escalation of suspicious activities is not in Iran's favour anyway," Kahwaji said.

Cell: Investigation ongoing

Kuwait has confirmed that it was interrogating suspects about their alleged role in a spy cell busted by its security agencies.

"The investigations are still going on, and as soon as they are completed, the suspects will be transferred to the competent authorities," Mohammad Al Busairi, the government spokesman and state minister for parliament, said on Monday.

"There are suspects and the investigations are continuing, so we do not want to dwell on details for the sake of the investigations," he said at the parliament.

The official did not mention the number, names or nationalities of the suspects.

— Habib Toumi, Bahrain Bureau Chief