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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Israel's warnings on Iran get quiet nods in Gulf |
| 2011-11-06 |
| Among the many alliances of convenience in the Middle East, one is so unusual that the partners can barely hint about it publicly: Israel and the Gulf Arab states linked by shared fears over Iran’s nuclear program. While their deeper disputes on the Palestinians effectively block any strategic breakthroughs, the recent warnings from Israel and the West about military options against Iran invariably draw in the Gulf and its rare meeting of minds with Jerusalem. The Gulf states—a cornerstone for U.S. diplomatic and military pressure on Iran—are indispensable parts of any effort to confront Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. And even Israel, which has no direct diplomatic outreach to the Gulf, is likely brought into the Gulf-centric policymaking with U.S. envoys acting as go-betweens, experts say. “I would be surprised if there is no knowledge about the Saudi positions (in Israel) or knowledge in Saudi of the Israeli positions,” said David Menashri, director of the Center for Iranian Studies at Tel Aviv University. It’s part of a complicated mix of mutual worries and divergent risks _ the Gulf, unlike Israel, has critical commercial and diplomatic ties with Iran—that puts Washington in the middle as the common ally and chief Western architect of pressure tactics on Iran. The next moves are expected after the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency releases an intelligence report Tuesday to its 35 board members. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #2 |
| Posted by: SteveS 2011-11-06 21:43 |
| #1 |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2011-11-06 19:17 |