Iran-GCC Media War.

The Bahrain and Lebanon issues have fuelled a media war between Iran and the GCC. This has coincided with a new low in Iranian-Saudi relations, reflected by Iran's intense reaction to a religious decree by two prominent Wahhabi religious imams in Saudi Arabia sanctioning the destruction of revered Shi'ite shrines in Iraq.

Iran's officials and media pundits now are focusing on "the negative role of Saudi Arabia", wondering why the US government is quiet about "the Saudi role in fomenting the instability in Iraq". The US military in Baghdad has recently reported that more than 60% of the foreign Neo-Salafi fighters in Iraq are Saudi nationals and several thousand of them are in US custody in Iraq. "What would happen if, instead of Saudis, these suicide bombers were from Iran?" an Iranian MP recently asked reporters when he accused the US of "double standards in turning a blind eye to Saudi Arabia's subversive role".

At their July 24 meeting with the US diplomats in Baghdad, Iran's delegation raised the issue of US laxity towards Saudi Arabia and the Wahhabi movement which is Salafi. A report by Asia Times Online on July 26 quoted a recent Tehran daily editorial as saying Saudi Arabia was "opposed to the security talks between Iran and the US government". Asia Times said most Iranian political analysts were in agreement that the Saudis were afraid of democracy in Iraq and the empowerment of Iraqi Shi'ites, "which they believe would inflame the situation of the long-oppressed Shi'ite minority in Saudi Arabia".

Asia Times quoted a Tehran University political scientist as saying: "It is not just the Saudi kingdom, the whole... [GCC]...run by oil sheikhs are wary of an Arab democracy blossoming in Iraq". In the aftermath of Kayhan's July 9 editorial, the GCC media have gone on the offensive, describing Iran as an "enemy of God and Islam", "worse than the infidel West", and an "enemy of Arabs". They described Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei as a "na?ve dictator".

In response, the Iranian media have accused the Kuwaiti leadership of complicity in Iraq's invasion of Iran in 1980 and the Saudi government of tacitly endorsing the blistering anti-Shi'ite fatwa (religious decree) by Wahhabi imams.

Tehran is trying some damage control by holding a religious conference on the Prophet Muhammad, which was announced on the recent return of President Mahmud Ahmadi-Nejad from Syria. But given the radical image of Ahmadi-Nejad, moderate Arab states including Saudi Arabia are increasingly worried about what they perceive as an Iranian quest to dominate the region.

An editorial in a Kuwaiti newspaper close to the ruling al-Sabah family has castigated Tehran for dreaming of the resurrection of the "defunct Persian Empire". This was strongly denied by Tehran's leadership, which relies on the slogan of "Islamic unity", even though to many Sunni Arabs in GCC states it rings hollow.

Iran's image problem is partly attributed to the gap between its foreign-policy rhetoric and its actual behaviour. This gap was widened as a result of a misreading of Khamenei's recent speech in which he labelled Iran's current foreign policy "offensive". Among other things, Khamenei said: "we do not mean Iran is at war with the world...we mean that Iran makes [social] demands, such as on issues of women, global inequality".

UN Concern Over Arms Flow To Hizbullah: A French-US draft presidential statement presented to the UNSC on July 25 expressed grave concern over "persistent reports" of breaches of the arms embargo along the Lebanese-Syrian border in violation of UNSC Resolution 1701. The draft followed UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's June 28 report on the implementation of Resolution 1701, which made detailed reference to violations of the arms embargo.

The draft expressed "deep concern about reports that suspected armed Hizbullah elements were alleged to be constructing new facilities in the Bekaa Valley". The statement, July 23, the day Al-Jazeera aired the first part of Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's interview, in which he declared his group possessed an arsenal of rockets which could reach any corner of Israel, including Tel Aviv.

The draft took note of "detailed information" received from the Lebanese government concerning "dangerous activities of armed elements and groups, in particular the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command and Fatah Intifada". It reiterated the UNSC's call for the disbanding and disarmament of all militias and armed groups in Lebanon.

The draft welcomed arrangements between Lebanon, the UN and Israel, and took note of commitments to reach an agreement on the northern part of the town of Ghajar, occupied by Israel. It encouraged the parties to co-operate with UNIFIL to mark the Blue Line visibly and appealed to all parties concerned to respect this line, expressing "deep concern at the increase in Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace".

The draft underscored the obligation of all member-states, mentioning Syria and Iran by name, to "take all necessary measures to implement paragraph 15 of Resolution 1701 to enforce the arms embargo". It expressed "deepest concern" over Hizbullah's failure to return the two Israeli soldiers held by the group since July 12, 2006, or provide proof the two were alive. The draft called for the Israeli soldiers' "immediate and unconditional return".

The statement welcomed the recommendations of the Lebanon Independent Border Assessment Team and requested the UN secretary-general, in consultation with the Lebanese government, to assess the implementation of the recommendations and to update the UNSC regularly on the issue.

The draft said the UNSC looked forward to progress between the Lebanese and Syrian governments in "delineating their common borders and to the re-establishment of a joint boundary commission". It welcomed the secretary-general's intention to engage in further discussions on the territorial definition of the Sheb'a Farms "that will strengthen a diplomatic process aimed at resolving this key issue in accordance with the relevant provisions of Resolution 1701".