September 8, 2002	Sunday	Jamadi-us-Saani29,1423

RIYADH: In the wake of the 9/11 events, while Saudi Arabia and to a lesser extent, other states of the Gulf, are faced with a disconcerting Western media campaign, and are still in the process of absorbing the tangible and intangible losses to them owing to the horrendous events of New York and Washington, last September, the improvement of relation between the GCC states and the Islamic Republic of Iran appears as perhaps the only silver lining on the horizon.

The relations between Saudi Arabia, other Arab states of the Gulf and Iran were already on a course for improvement when tragedy struck the twin towers.

It all started when the former Iranian President Rafsanjani visited Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

The visit proved to be crucial in melting the ice between the two states, which were affected by events surrounding the almost decade long Iran-Iraq war and the subsequent Iranian insistence on carrying out political activities during Haj each year.

However, despite improvement of relations between Riyadh and Tehran, there was still a chill in relations between some of the other states of the Gulf and Iran. The post 9/11 scenarios seems to have given a push to the realisation in the region that the relation between the Arab Gulf states and Iran need to be improved, if stability and security of the region is to be ensured.

The relationship thus entered a new and vigorous phase after the 9/11 events. One of the indications of closer ties was the enhancement of the level of cooperation between the GCC states and Iran and the frequent exchange of visits between Tehran and Gulf capitals.

The visits of the King of Bahrain Sheikh Hamad Bin Isa Al- Khalifa as well as those of Saudi, Omani and the Yemeni foreign ministers to Tehran during the past one month underline the new emerging dynamism of the Iran-Arab ties. Earlier the UAE’s minister of state for foreign affairs Sheikh Hamdan ibn Zayed also paid a visit to Tehran, indicating the realisation in both the capitals that they need to seek a peaceful settlement to their differences on the three islands of Abu Moussa and Greater and Lesser Tunbs.

Similarly the visit of Shaikh Hamd of Bahrain was also significant in many ways. In the past Bahrain has accused Iran of fomenting problems within the Kingdom, through the Bahraini Shia community, and against the ruling family. It now seems that Bahrain and Iran are putting aside their differences and are trying to rebuild a relationship based on mutual understanding, trust and a commitment not to interfere in the affairs of the other.

In order to promote the relations and develop a better integration with the Arab states of the Gulf, Iran has also proposed the establishment of a joint free trade zone in the region. Iran’s proposal was that in order to promote multilateral trade between the GCC and Iran, a joint free zone be established between the two sides. It was also reported in the local press here earlier that the Saudi petrochemical giant, SABIC was considering establishing a joint petrochemical project in Iran and a feasibility study was being carried out for the project.

It has been reported that the GCC foreign ministers during their two-day meeting in Jeddah last week, have suggested to the leaders of the GCC to accept the Iranian proposal of a free trade zone.

Analysts feel that the growing US pressure on the Arab states of the Gulf and Iran, after the 9/11 events have pushed the two sides closer and have compelled them to shelve their differences in order to be able to stand up to the pressures currently being applied from Washington.