Geoffrey Carliner: Persian Gulf Arabs would like to improve relations with Iran

TABNAK: Geoffrey Carliner, professor at Boston University says just as Saudi Arabia and Iran restored diplomatic relations a year ago, the other Arab countries in the Persian Gulf would also like to decrease tensions with Iran. 

Following is the text of the interview:

Q: Following the death of the president of Iran, all the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf sent delegations to Iran to express their condolences, and the Emir of Qatar also came to Iran. What is your assessment of this issue?

A: All the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf would like to improve their relations with Iran.  Just as Saudi Arabia and Iran restored diplomatic relations a year ago, the other Arab countries in the Persian Gulf would also like to decrease tensions with Iran.  Instead of spending their attention, energy, and money in conflict with Iran, they would like to devote their efforts and finances to developing their economies and improving the wellbeing of their people.  Decreased tension and increased cooperation with Iran will help them achieve these goals.

Q: The king of Bahrain also announced in his meeting with Vladimir Putin that Bahrain has no problem with Iran and demanded to establish relations with Iran. Why is there talk of reviving relations at the current stage?

A: On the other hand, Bahrain is a small country in the neighborhood of Iran, which can use the benefits of cultural, diplomatic, commercial and economic relations with Iran by improving relations.

Q: At the same time, countries such as the UAE are talking about the improvement in the relations of the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council with Iran, and at the same time we are witnessing the expansion of their security relations with the United States and Israel. How can these two topics be combined?

A: Although Saudi Arabia and the other Arab states want better relations with Iran, they also fear Iran.  Therefore they want closer security relations with the US.  These countries also think they could benefit from the technology transfer that would come from closer economic relations with the US and also with Israel.  Both the US and Israel have many technologies that Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf Arab countries would like to adopt, to modernize their economies and diversify from dependence on oil and gas exports.                                                                                                      

Q: Along with improving relations with Iran, Saudi Arabia is also normalizing relations with Israel. Can the presence of Israel in the region and the expansion of security relations with the Arabs of the Persian Gulf harm the relations between the Arabs and Iran?

A: Saudi Arabia, and the other Arab countries that have already normalized relations with Israel, accept that Israel is not going away.  Israel has a technologically advanced economy. It clearly will continue to be an important presence in the Middle East for a very long time.  Saudi Arabia would like to extract promises from Israel to support an independent Palestinian state in exchange for normalizing relations, but even if Israel does not take any steps toward a two-state solution, Saudi Arabia will not devote resources to trying to drive Israel out of the region.