Printable Version
Gulf Academics Voice Concern Over Iran Nuclear Effort
By Barbara Bibbo, Gulf News
April 22, 2006
Doha -- Gulf academics have expressed growing concern over Iran's nuclear ambitions as US observers here called for a joint US-Arab diplomatic effort to solve the problem.
"We are afraid and oppose the idea of having a nuclear power at our doors. But this situation is the result of Western policies in the region," Qatari intellectual Mohammad Al Musfir told Gulf News.
"The United States, France and Britain bear responsibility for the status of current affairs. Who has supplied Iran with nuclear technologies for years? Who has meddled with Middle East policies for the past half century?"
In a direct attack at the West, Al Musfir said that despite the current problem Iran is no enemy of the Gulf countries.
"We do not identify Iran with the enemy. Iran does not pose any threat to the Gulf countries. Of course there is a historical competition between us, but there was never enmity. The West 'decides' who our enemies are to justify foreign presence in the region."
Faisal Al Mousawi, chairman of the Bahraini Advisory Council, said the Gulf fears that an escalation of the tension could bring another war into the region.
"We want a Middle East free from nuclear weapons and we are scared. We have already condemned them [Iran] and made clear that we reject a nuclear power in the region," Al Mousawi said.
Scott Bates, vice-president of the Washington-based Centre for National Policy and Senior Fellow for National Security, told Gulf News the United States should engage in "serious and frank" negotiations with Iran, because the country was always powerful and influential in the region.
"It is a US obligation to keep the door open for discussion, so that other partners can see that we are doing everything possible to avoid a conflict," he said.
Robert Blackwill, who served as presidential adviser to Iraq under President George W. Bush, ruled out an American attack against Iran's nuclear facilities.