Clinton in Bahrain: US concern over Iran shared by neighbours

First Published: 2010-12-03

US highlights policy issues as it works to contain 'collateral diplomatic damage' caused by Wikileaks.

Middle East Online

By Christophe Schmidt - MANAMA

Bahrain has the reasons to be worried for non-nuclear reasons US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Friday that American concerns over Iran's suspected atomic weapons programme are shared by the Islamic republic's neighbours. Speaking to journalists about talks due to start between major powers and Iran on Monday, Clinton said, "There is no debate in the international community, and perhaps the Iranians will engage seriously ... on what is a concern shared by nations on every continent, but most particularly right here in the region. "Because obviously if you're the neighbour of a country that is pursuing nuclear weapons, that is viewed in a much more threatening way than if you're a concerned country many thousand of miles away. But the concern is the same and we hope that Iran will respond." Clinton is in Bahrain to open the annual Manama Dialogue organised by the London-based International Institute of Strategic Studies, which this year draws prime ministers, defence ministers, military officials, intelligence chiefs and private sector heads from across the region. The meeting, billed as the "most important regional security meeting in the Middle East and an excellent anchor for regional security diplomacy," comes as US diplomacy reels amid a storm of anger from foreign governments scrutinised in State Department cables published by WikiLeaks. Some of the most prominent headlines highlighted widespread fears among Arab countries in the Gulf about Iran's suspected nuclear weapons programme and their calls to nip it in the bud. Perhaps most famously, Saudi King Abdullah was quoted in a cable saying the United States should "cut off the head of the snake." And this weekend's host, Bahrain's King Hamad, told US General David Petraeus the Iranian "programme must be stopped ... The danger of letting it go on is greater than the danger of stopping it. Iran, which has downplayed the WikiLeaks disclosures and said they will not affect relations with its neighbours, has adopted a tough and uncompromising stance ahead of new nuclear talks with world powers. After months of stalling, it will resume talks in Geneva on Monday and Tuesday with the so-called P5+1 grouping UN Security Council permanent members Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States with Germany. The Security Council has called on Iran in six resolutions -- four of which impose sanctions -- to halt its controversial atomic work, as part of the international community suspects Tehran is seeking nuclear weapons capability. Tehran denies the charge, insisting its nuclear programme is solely aimed at peaceful ends and energy production. Western powers "have used all the capabilities at their disposal, like passing resolutions, imposing sanctions and piling on political pressure but they did not gain anything," said chief negotiator Saeed Jalili, who will represent Tehran in Geneva. "They have (now) resorted to assassination, which shows their desperation and the dead end they have reached," said the negotiator. That was a reference to the murder on Monday of a senior Iranian nuclear scientist, that Tehran blamed on the United States and Israel. World powers have not reacted to Iranian accusations. It took Iran and the P5+1 grouping one month to agree on a date and venue for the talks, but the two sides have yet to agree on an agenda. The world powers want to focus on Iran's uranium enrichment programme, but Tehran wants a wider discussion that includes regional security issues and archfoe Israel's alleged possession of nuclear arms. To make things more complicated, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad repeated this week that uranium enrichment, which is the main issue of concern over Iran's nuclear activities, was "non-negotiable" and that pressure "will not bear any results." And Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Iran's presence in Geneva "does not mean that we will make concessions or retreat from our principled position."