Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 25 / Trend /
Trend Arabic News Service commentator Aygul Taghiyeva
A regular meeting of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) has been recently held in Bahrain's capital Manama. A proposed union of Arab monarchies was the main topic of discussion. The talks have been held for about a year and the union seemed unreal because of existing differences in economic issues.
Of course, the cause of the increase in the seriousness of negotiations was due to a heightened threat from the Arab monarchs' enemy - Iran.
Even during the formation of the council in 1981, the main idea was to create an association to avoid Persian Gulf country involvement in the Iranian-Iraqi war. That time, the country's council could wait out the war without interfering in it and could more or less cordon themselves off from the consequences of war.
Current events in the GCC member countries, in particular, the Shiite protests in Bahrain last March could be an additional incentive for countries to join the union.
Moreover, Shiite MPs got the majority of seats in the parliament at the last parliamentary elections in Kuwait at the end of last month. This forced Saudi Arabia to think about the subsequent fate of the Sunni monarchs. Moreover, there have recently been renewed Shiite demonstrations in the eastern part of the country where most of the country's oil reserves are concentrated.
Saudi Arabia and other Gulf monarchies consider Iran to be the cause of some recent political changes and instability in the Gulf region. Thus, Saudi officials have repeatedly said that Iran is scheming to usurp the power of Sunni authorities in the Persian Gulf. Saudi Arabia itself must be the end point.
Apart from economic cooperation, today the creation of a union between the two countries is being carried out to build a military and strategic partnership. Recently during a meeting, Saudi Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz noted that creation of a union is necessary to preserve stability and ensure security amid increased regional threats.
Joining together in union, it will be easier for the kingdoms to control their political situations and immediately provide assistance needed for the stabilization of a hypothetical situation in a member country.
It must be noted that the accession of Morocco and Jordan to the GCC as council members is in its second year of discussion. It turns out that the union will be created not according to geographical factors, but rather by systems of government - monarchy.
At the same time, Jordan and Morocco are Sunni monarchies. This was undoubtedly, the main reason for the nomination of these countries for membership of the GCC.
Establishment of a union with Jordanian participation is very important for strategic partnership in the union; for Jordan, where mass protests unfolded recently, is experiencing a difficult period, both in economic and domestic policy, leading to 3 changes of government in the recent years.
In response to unrest in the neighboring kingdom, Saudi Arabia invited a number of high-ranking military personnel and members of Jordanian intelligence services to developing further steps to prevent the continuation of protests in the country.
Moreover, economic and energy cooperation between the two countries is also very important. Thus, controlling huge reserves of hydrocarbons and significant economic potential, the countries could work on important issues such as the energy crisis in Jordan or lack of electricity in countries such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait on their own, without the help of Iran.
This way, the countries of the Council would also finally put an end to Iranian efforts to get closer with countries in the region under the pretext of schemes such as energy assistance to Jordan or the implementation of a construction project for a common power network from Iran to the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait or Qatar.
Given the above mentioned facts, it can be assumed that considering the threat of Iran's growing influence in the region, both in the economic and political life of the Arab states in the Persian Gulf, the unionization of Arab monarchs will happen very soon.