The tussle in West Asia spilt over to New Delhi with Saudi Arabia and Iran taking up cudgels over Bahrain. Riyadh cast the first stone by accusing Iran of meddling in Bahrain where public unrest is being put down with the help of soldiers from Saudi Arabia.
Iran has now hit back with its mission here asking countries, especially Muslim nations and its neighbours, not to pay attention to the West's allegations “blaming us'' for the unrest in Shia majority Bahrain currently ruled by a Sunni monarchy.
Iran is predominantly Shia while Saudi Arabia largely Sunni. Both large nations have jostled for supremacy in the extended region with Iran coming out in support of the people's movements in Tunisia, Egypt and Bahrain.
“Exercise control “
“We believe all countries should exercise control with their own security forces. We condemn the presence of foreign troops in any country. Countries can seek the help of foreign troops to defend, not control their own people. We have said the presence of Saudi Arabian troops is neither in the interest of Bahrain nor Saudi Arabia,'' said a senior Iranian diplomat. The Iranians also deny that the Shia affinity is causing them to support the largely Shia protestors in Bahrain. “This is not a Shia-Sunni issue. Iran has supported the Palestinian cause for the last 30 years. Palestinians are largely Sunni but Iran's support is out of its sense of duty to these people,'' he explained.
The diplomats defended Iran's record by pointing out that after the overthrow of Shah Reza Pehlavi, 30 elections have been held. Public participation has been at over 60 per cent in most of the polls. The previous presidential elections saw an 80 per cent turnout. “We hope this trend takes root in the Middle East [West Asia] and the people have a say in running the government,'' added one of them.
The diplomats saw a big role for India in ushering popular participation in countries run by monarchies and autocracies. But India should not see one way and should not work unilaterally. “We see a great role for India. We hope India will do its duty,'' they hoped.
