Denounce Iran’s malicious intentions and demonstrate your national loyalty Open letter to Al Wefaq from Citizens for Bahrain
Iran’s Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani has once again proven why joint Gulf defense is so vital to Bahrain’s national survival and territorial integrity.
We hear him again giving voice to the desire of Iran’s leadership to swallow Bahrain as a “13th province” of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
We could scarcely believe our ears when such a senior Iranian figure – without any sense of shame – asserting that “if Bahrain is to be integrated into another country, it must be Iran.”
Larijani and the Majlis have deliberately misunderstood the intentions of the Gulf Union proposal, which, among its numerous benefits, aspires to provide collective protection for the individual sovereignty of the Arabian Gulf nations. In straightforward language, this is about the Gulf nations standing together to preserve each other’s independence and national identity against bullying states like Iran.
What adds to our concerns about Bahraini national sovereignty are the comments by Al Wefaq’s Secretary General Sheikh Ali Salman which echo so much of what we heard from the Iranian Majlis: The hostility towards Saudi Arabia; the disregard for the views of all Bahrainis outside his own sectarian constituency; and the harsh language about “wasting Bahrain’s independence”.
If Sheikh Ali Salman cares about Bahrain’s independence, why is he not condemning Iran’s wicked intentions; why does he not speak out against Mr. Larijani’s call for Bahrain “to be integrated into” Iran; and why does he stand alongside Iran against our closest neighbours, with whom we share our language, our cultural heritage and our proud Arab identity.
We hope that we have misunderstood Sh. Ali Salman’s and Al Wefaq’s intentions here and it is right to give them the benefit of the doubt. Therefore we call Al Wefaq National Islamic Society to unambiguously denounce Ali Larijani’s comments; to denounce repeated calls from Iran’s leaders to annex Bahrain as a “13th province”; and to assert their own desire to work for Bahrain’s unity and territorial integrity, avoiding sectarian and biased politics of the street.
The one point we can agree with Salman on from his recent speech on these matters is that Bahrain’s “independence” is at stake here. As long as Bahrain is in a situation of civil tension, fragmentation and at the mercy of those committed to violence, then we pass the initiative on to those who seek to destroy Bahrain as an independent nation.
Thus we call on Al-Wefaq and all sides to put biased and sectarian quarrels aside, respond positively to His Majesty the King’s repeated calls for national dialogue and work for the benefit and unity of our troubled nation.