30 August 2010 By Abdul
Rahman Al-Rashid News reports about Iranian plots to target the Arab
Gulf States through local Shiite cells, which have
been planted and programmed to carry out terrorist
activities and create chaos, in the event of an attack
on Iran, may not be far from the truth. However, it is
incorrect to suggest that the Shiites alone would be
Iran’s agents in a time of crisis. This belief is
completely naïve, for Iran today is the largest
employer of Sunni movements, specifically the Salafist
groups, who are considered the most radical Sunni
group, and certainly different from the Shiites. The
attack which struck the Japanese oil tanker near the
Straits of Hormuz a month ago was not a Shiite
operation, but that of a Sunni-Salafi Saudi national
based in Iran! There are hundreds more like him, of
Arab nationality, hiding and being trained inside
Iran. There are also hundreds of others receiving
support from Iran for their activities in other areas
such as Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, Lebanon, Gaza and so on.
Yet the portrayal of this political issue
[employing Sunni movements] as one that contradicts
with Shia doctrine, or with the Shiites as a people,
is reminiscent of the ancient Iranian project, which
aimed to unite Shiites worldwide. However this project
only worked partially in Lebanon. Indeed, the Tehran
regime’s relationship with the Shiite Arabs has been
significantly marred by political problems, as is the
case in Iraq today, where Iranian efforts have failed
to impose influence on Shiite religious parties, to
form a certain political mould. If that had succeeded,
the political crisis in Baghdad would have ended with
an outright majority in parliament and the formation
of a government, albeit of Iran’s choosing. Yet this
has not succeeded because each party has its own
opinion and political agendas, which it believes in
and insists upon. Also, there are Shiite Arabs in
western Iran today who are treated badly and
discriminated against in their own country [Iran].
Thus there is clear evidence that Iran does not see
the world along the lines of a sectarian divide, but
in accordance with the interests of its politically
pragmatic system. This system strives to do all it can
to serve the Iranian regime’s objectives and spread
its influence, to Sunnis or Shiites. The truth is that the best battalion serving Iran
today is not those Shiite groups in the Arab region
loyal to Iran, but Sunni extremist groups which
systematically assist Iran, by prompting Shiite
citizens to doubt and reject [their own regimes].
These extremist groups serve Iran by spreading fear
amongst the Shiites in the Gulf, thus sending their
Shiite youth into the arms of Iran. It is expected that the Iranian authorities intend
to put all their effort into securing the largest
number of Iranian sympathizers of the Gulf Shiites,
and use them for Iran’s purposes within their own
states. Iran in its present plight believes it has the
power to confront any U.S. attack, through chaos and
terrorism, and it is hardly surprising that it will
awaken the cells in the Gulf if such a crisis occurs.
Here it would be naive to believe that the cells are
only Shiite, but in reality they include Sunnis, and
Arabs of different nationalities Al Rashed is the general manager of Al -Arabiya television. He is also the
former editor-in-chief of Asharq Al- Awsat, and the leading Arabic weekly
magazine, Al Majalla. He is also a senior Columnist in the daily newspapers of
Al Madina and Al Bilad. He is a US post-graduate degree in mass communications.
He has been a guest on many TV current affairs programs. He is currently based
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