http://www.gulfnews.com/region/Iran/10325277.html
AP
In this photograph posted on the internet, a protester throws
a projectile at riot police in Tehran on Saturday. Despite calls from Supreme
Leader Ayatollah Khamenei to stop protests, reformists have taken to streets in
large numbers.
Last updated: 00:44 (GMT+04) Tuesday, June 23, 2009. Rajab 1,
1430
Arabs worry tensions will spill over to neighbours
By Duraid Al Baik, Associate Editor, and Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief
Published: June 22, 2009, 23:04
Dubai: Gulf Parliamentarians and officials in the Arab League on Monday
expressed concerns about the violent developments in Iran and a possible
spillover of tensions into Gulf states.
Al Dar, a Kuwaiti newsportal, on Sunday quoted senior Iranian sources,
without naming them, as saying that the Iranians would take action against
those who meddled in Iran's domestic affairs.
"The Iranian leadership is now focused on achieving stability in the
country. However, after it finishes the legal and constitutional tackling of
the internal movements, Iranian leaders will not remain silent towards those
who interfered in Iran's domestic affairs by pouring in huge amounts of dollars
or by expanding conflicts to undermine the system," the sources said.
Meanwhile, Bahrain's oldest newspaper in circulation, Akhbar Al Khaleej
was briefly suspended yesterday. No reason or explanation was given by the
official news agency for the suspension on Tuesday and for lifting it 12 hours
later.
Sources told Gulf News that the suspension of the newspaper was related
to the publication of an article in the opinion section on Sunday by Sameera
Rajab, a regular columnist with the pan-Arabist newspaper, in which she
attacked the Iranian regime and its supporters.
A source from the Arab League, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told
Gulf News that there is a great level of disagreement among member states about
their assessment on violence in Tehran and other Iranian cities.
The upcoming ministerial meetings scheduled for this week might fail to
agree on formulating a unified stand on the Iranian issue.
The disagreement among Arabs about the Iranian issue has reached a stage
that some Arab countries including Egypt has criticised Arab League Secretary
General Amr Mousa, for sending a congratulatory cable to Ahmadinejad after the
second announcement of the election.
Rashid Musabeh Al Kindi, Rapporteur of the Foreign Affairs Committee at
the Federal National Council of UAE told Gulf News that the country is quite
concerned about any event that shakes stability in Iran, because of its
political and demographic weight.
Al Kindi said the tension in Iran would naturally lead to trouble
throughout the region. "What Gulf nations want to see is a peaceful solution to
stop the bloodshed," he said.
Dr Mohammad Al Naqabi, Head of the Negotiation Centre, Abu Dhabi, said
that the GCC has always refrained from interfering in Iran's internal politics
including the right of Iranian people to elect their president.
"However, the GCC prefers to see a president in Iran who is less hostile
to the west and who has a clear vision about how to establish constructive
relations with its neighbours in the GCC.
"If the current investigation was concluded with legitimising the
re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his second term; then there would be no
legitimacy for the protests of the opposition. Otherwise, Iranians leaders must
look for a solution in their constitution for the political conflict," Al
Naqabi said.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
