UK Secretary Hauge gives false assurances to desperate failing Gulf Monarchies

UK foreign secretary seeks to reassure Gulf allies
By ADAM SCHRECK – 6 December, 2013 – The Bellingham Herald

MANAMA, Bahrain — Britain’s top diplomat voiced his country’s strong commitment to the security of the Gulf states on Friday, seeking to reassure wary Arab allies in the wake of last month’s nuclear deal with their regional rival Iran.

Foreign Secretary William Hague told representatives at a regional security summit in the Bahraini capital Manama that last month’s deal between world powers and Iran in Geneva does not imply any lessening of the U.K.’s commitments to its alliances in the region.

“The U.K. and other Western countries must retain and also strengthen our commitment to stability in the Gulf,” Hague said, adding that Britain is extending “deliberately and for the long-term” its defense and security cooperation with the region.

“We will remain solidly committed to intensifying and building up these links based on common interest and the deepest possible mutual understanding,” he said.

Iran agreed to freeze parts of its nuclear program for six months in exchange for some relief from Western sanctions.

The Gulf states generally welcomed the deal, and Iran’s foreign minister this week paid visits to four of them — Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates — in an early indication of the warming ties.

Even so, Gulf leaders remain suspicious of Iran’s broader intentions and fear that better relations with the West could embolden Tehran, destabilizing the region. Heavyweight Saudi Arabia in particular sees Iran as a threat to its own influence, and it and other Sunni-ruled Gulf nations are important backers of the Syrian rebels fighting to topple the Iran-allied government of Bashar Assad in Syria.
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