Bahrain, Iran and Saudi
Arabia
The Kingdom of Bahrain is an
archipelago of 33 islands, the largest of which is Bahrain, located some 16 kms
from Saudi Arabia and linked to it by the King Fahd Causeway, which opened in
1986. The population of Bahrain, according to a 2010 census, stands at
1,234,571, only 568,399 of whom are Bahraini nationals, making Bahrain the smallest GCC state.
Bahrain is rife with sectarian tensions; some reports suggest that as much as
75 percent of the population is Shia.
Historical Background
History certainly plays a
part in what is transpiring at present, as it is one of back-and-forth until
relatively recent times. The Bahrain land grab goes back thousands of years,
and its claimants have included Sumerians, Assyrians, Babylonians, and
Persians. The Portuguese occupied the islands starting in 1522, and after their
forced exit in 1602, Bahrain was lorded over by successive waves of Persians
and Arab tribes from the mainland for the next 180 years. In 1783, the Sunni
al-Khalifa family, a clan from the Atabi tribe residing on the Qatari
peninsula, seized Bahrain from Persia.
The ruling tribe, the Al
Khalifa, emanate from the Arabian Peninsula and are Sunni Muslims. The Al
Khalifa came to power in the eighteenth century, arriving from Qatar and, with
the help of tribal allies from the peninsula, overthrowing the Persian rulers.
In the aftermath of British
withdrawal from the Gulf, Iran was presented with an opportunity to assert its
dominance over the region, immediately reviving the historical Persian claim to
sovereignty over Bahrain. However,
Saudi Arabia was opposed to this idea.
The case of Bahrain is one of
the instances where Iran and Saudi Arabia were in disagreement prior to 1979.
The issue was resolved, with Iran saving face, when the shah suggested that the
Bahrainis should be able to determine their own fate. This opened the door for
a UN mission to discover that the people of Bahrain desired independence.
Resources
Though it was the first
emirate where oil was discovered
(1932), Bahrain will most likely be the first to exhaust its reserves.
Consequently, Bahrain has developed one of the most diversified economies in
the Persian Gulf region. Bahrain’s economic activity, like that of other Arab
states in the Persian Gulf, has largely centred on the production of crude oil
and natural gas and on refining petroleum products, making the country
sensitive to fluctuations in the world oil market.
Bahrain has built on its
long tradition of shipping and commerce, however, and has been more successful
than some other states in the gulf in developing manufacturing and commercial
and financial services. The non-oil sector includes petrochemicals, ship
repair, aluminum refining, and light manufacturing. Bahrain has remained the
most important commercial and financial centre in the gulf, although it has
faced growing competition from the United
Arab Emirates.
Bahrain between Iran and Saudi Arabia
Bahrain has remained an arena of
Saudi-Iranian rivalry for influence. From the point of view of the Saudis,
Shiites pose a permanent potential threat to the territorial integrity of Saudi
Arabia. The authorities are anxious about the loyalty of Saudi Shiites towards
their own country as well as their ties with the principal rival in the Persian
Gulf sub-region — the Islamic Republic of Iran.
That is why the Saudi
government has remained vividly interested in the development of the political
situation in Bahrain, which is perceived in Riyadh as a sui generis safety
buffer between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and the fact that in Bahrain the Sunni
minority has remained in power is also perceived as a guarantee of strategic
stability of the petroliferous — Saudi, Shia — Eastern Province.
The Battle for
Bahrain: Iranian-Saudi Rivalry
Encycploeadia Britannica
The Strategic Importance
of Bahrain
Bahrain as the Area of
Saudi-Iranian Rivalry
Jorge Emilio Núñez
Twitter:
@London1701
13th November 2018
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