Former CIA officer: The normalization of relations between Iran and Bahrain is a sign of the decline of American hegemony

Graham Fuller wrote on the “responsiblestatecraft” website (the online publication of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft): Tehran and Manama’s agreement to start negotiations to normalize relations is more than what At first glance, it seems important.

He added: The Fifth Fleet of the US Navy is based in Bahrain, whose area of ​​responsibility includes the entire Persian Gulf and the Red and Arabian Seas.

The former CIA officer believes: For a long time, America’s policy in the West Asia has been aimed at creating a military and political coalition against Iran consisting of regional countries; For this reason, any rapprochement between Bahrain and Iran will cause concern to Washington, and therefore, it may try to prevent it.

Fuller recalled: the first serious gap in the American anti-Iranian strategy was revealed when Riyadh and Tehran resumed diplomatic relations with the mediation of China in 2023.

He believes that due to the prospect of reviving Bahrain’s relations with Iran, major changes in geopolitical realities in the Persian Gulf will become more evident.

This western expert stated: Bahrain would hardly have moved closer to Iran without the consent of Saudi Arabia, which had previously established relations with Tehran itself.

According to TASS news agency, Manama, like Riyadh in January 2016, cut off relations with Tehran following the attack on the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Iran.

According to this report, on March 10, 2023 (March 20, 1402), it was announced that Iran and Saudi Arabia have reached an agreement to normalize relations and reopen embassies. On March 12, 2023 (March 22, 1402), they announced in Manama that they are ready to restore relations with Tehran, and on March 14 (March 24, 1402), the spokesman of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nasser Kanani, assured that Iran is ready to develop cooperation with all its neighbors, including Bahrain. .

In the framework of the historical fraternal relations between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Islamic Republic of Iran and the religious ties, neighborhood, common history and mutual interests between them. Abdul Latif bin Rashid Al-Ziani, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bahrain and Ali Bagheri Keni, Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, on July 3, 1403 in Tehran on the occasion of the visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bahrain to our country and at the invitation of the Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs to participate in the Asian Cooperation Dialogue meeting. They were bilateral.

After this meeting, the Islamic Republic of Iran and Bahrain agreed in a joint statement on creating the necessary mechanisms to start the dialogue between the two countries with the aim of examining how to resume political relations.

The central bank also announced: In continuation of the negotiations that took place on the sidelines of the 50th annual meeting of the Islamic Development Bank in Riyadh with the authorities of the Central Bank of Bahrain in order to release the blocked resources of the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran and other Iranian banks in Bahrain. On the 3rd of July and before the visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bahrain to Tehran, effective negotiations were held between the Deputy Director of International Affairs of the Central Bank and the Deputy Director of the Central Bank of Bahrain.

In these negotiations, the two sides emphasized and understood the liberalization of Iran’s foreign exchange resources in Bahrain, which should be done on a technical basis and on the basis of mutual respect.

Source: IRNA