Mr. Sobhani misses the fundamental threat facing Bahrain’s New Democratic rule – how will Bahrain protect it’s self from Saudi Arabia

CNN Editor’s Note: Rob Sobhani is the President of Caspian Energy Consulting, a group with interests in energy and infrastructure projects. He engages extensively with heads of state in the broader Middle East for work and wrote the book, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia: A Leader of Consequence. He holds a PhD from Georgetown University. [Including interests in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia}

Iran’s Target: Bahrain
10/20/11 03:37 – Rob Sobhani CEO, Caspian Group Holdings

In 1892 at the old souk in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, the American Mission Hospital was established. Six years later, American philanthropists opened the American Mission School to deliver quality education to citizens of this Arab nation. A famous Arab proverb symbolizes the struggle these Americans faced in running a hospital and school in the later days of the 19th century: “A journey of a thousand miles starts with one step.” Today this 100-year friendship between the island nation of Bahrain and the United States is in jeopardy by the same government that wanted to assassinate a Saudi diplomat in Washington, DC.

One of the fundamental goals of the Islamic regime in Tehran is to overthrow the monarchy in Bahrain and install an Islamic Republic. This has been a goal of the clerics since they came to power in 1979 and as early as last year, an advisor to Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, stated, “Bahrain is Iran’s 14th province.” In fact, Iran has hijacked the recent protests by Bahrainis for better living conditions as a means to overthrow this pro-American ally.

The key question President Obama and members of the U.S. Congress have to ask themselves is: how can Washington protect Bahrain from Iran and at the same time assist its rulers in their challenge to address the grievances of its citizens? This is an important question because the stability of the energy-rich Persian Gulf is tied to Bahrain. The U.S.-Bahrain relationship is vital to America’s energy security and those of its allies. Fully 67 percent of the world’s proven crude oil reserves are situated in the Persian Gulf and approximately 30 percent of the daily global crude oil exports pass through the territorial waters of Bahrain on the way to consumers worldwide. …more