Azerbaijan, Baku, February 17 / Trend , T.Konyaeva/
Hillary Clinton's visit to the Persian Gulf countries was aimed at involving these countries into the process of exerting pressure on Iran, but the creation of a coalition against the Islamic Republic is unlikely today, the experts.
"I do not think that the United States and Arab countries will establish a coalition against Iran, chairman of Urosevic Research Foundation of London Piruz Mudzhtahidzade told Trend by telephone from London. I think that the purpose of Clinton's visit was to show a threat posed by the Iranian regime, so, this trip rather was a political propaganda to exert pressure on Iran."
In the end of last week, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a four-day tour to Persian Gulf countries. The main theme of her talks with the representatives of Arab and other Islamic countries was Iran's nuclear program. In Doha, Clinton made a speech at the forum U.S. - Islamic World, organized by the government of Qatar, later the U.S. Secretary of State went to Saudi Arabia, where she held talks with the leadership of this country.
According to Mudzhtahidzade, if such visits would continue in the future, then Iran may have problems.
"It is time for Iran to stop ignoring such changes [between the U.S. and the Arab countries], and chose the way to resolve the current crisis through the establishment of cooperation, the more so for this it has a great potential," he said.
Syrian analyst Akram Khuzam also believes that Clinton's visit is a propaganda and is aimed at increasing political pressure on Iran, but he believes that Iran has failed to take any action against the Gulf countries, but rather limited itself to the statements in press.
"It is not in Iran's interest to customize the countries of the region against itself at this stage, Khuzam told Trend by telephone. Due to an internal crisis and the adoption of new international sanctions, Iran is in a weak position, especially after the cooling of relations with Russia."
Khuzam added that these countries do not consider the implementation of military influence on Iran, but prefer that the United States and the international community put pressure on Iran with the aim of weakening and reducing the military threat to the Gulf.
"For this reason, we can understand the consent of the region to host the missile defense system to balance between the West and Iran," he said.
In January, the U.S. stepped up missile defense unit in the Persian Gulf. The Department of Defense said that the measure was due to the growing threat from Iran, which is armed with ballistic missiles, and is envisaged to protect U.S. military facilities in the region, as well as the territory of Washington's allies.
The Head of U.S. Army Central Command, who is responsible for operations in the Middle East, General David Petraeus said that eight anti-aircraft missile complexes Patriot were deployed in the region in January 2010. They are located in Kuwait, Qatar, UAE and Bahrain, where the U.S. military base is located.
According to Dr. Theodore Karasik, specializing in Middle East security, the U.S. and pro-allies follow very typical path that has been done before against what it deems to be a wrong state by the West.
"This wrong state is put on the pressure by sanctions, there are UN directives that are one but the Security council as a whole, Karasik told Trend by telephone. There is then pushed regional allies to group behind so-called a "coalition of the willing" and then they block off countries that are on agreement about whatever it has. Whether it is a benevolent dictator, if it is weapons of mass destruction, if it is a nuclear weapon program".
The gulf countries had been playing this double game for many years as they see the utility of maintaining the friendly relations with Iran, at the same time listening to what the West has to say about their dealing with Iran, Karasik said.
"These countries are trying to protect themselves against what may happen in the future. Countries like Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain are playing both sides of the fence. [...] They play the best possible hand they can, which is by playing both sides and being diplomatic and mutual at the same time between both camps," the expert said.
The U.S. has several military bases in Gulf countries. In 1991, the countries of the region agreed on the establishment of U.S. military bases, which after some time become permanent. U.S. military bases appeared in Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar (the biggest in the world famous American air base Al Udeid), Oman and United Arab Emirates (in all these countries, the U.S. leased military facilities of the national armed forces).
Clinton wanted Saudi Arabia to replace Iran's energy exports to China, said Joshua Landis, Director Center for Middle East Studies University of Oklahoma.
According to the representative of Department of State Geoffrey Feltman accompanying Clinton during her visit to the Gulf, the United States rely on the fact that Saudi Arabia, which has good relations with China, will convince Beijing to renounce the negative position regarding the sanctions with regard to Iran's nuclear plans.
However, Landis believes that it will be very hard to buy China on the Iran issue.
"China is beginning to see that it can follow its own policy and does not need to blindly take America's lead on all things Middle East," Landis wrote in an e-mail to Trend .
Western countries suspect Iran of developing nuclear weapons, but Tehran categorically rejects these suspicions, mentioning the peaceful character of its nuclear program. The UN Security Council has adopted five resolutions with regards to Iran, three of which are sanctions adopted particularly because of Tehran's refusal to suspend uranium enrichment.
U.Sadikhova, T.Jafarov contributed to the article.