Mideast turmoil rattles Iran-Saudi standoff

FE Team | Published: February 25, 2011 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

DUBAI, UAE, Feb 24 (AP): Saudi Arabia's rulers answered the Arab world's winter of rage with money: throwing US$ 36 billion into housing and other social assistance channels in attempts to quell rumblings of dissent. Iran's president offered more bombast as Tehran tries to project sympathy for protesters. The two approaches this week - largesse versus rhetoric - captures the style and stakes for the region's heavyweight rivals as Iran hunts for gains and Saudi tries hard to stamp out any threats. Already, the region has been reshaped by the fall of decades-old regimes and growing pressures on others, including Moammar Gadhafi's 42-year rule in Libya. But the ultimate questions for many are whether the pro-Western Saudi monarchy can ride out the unrest, and if Iran will capitalize on the changes with more footholds and influence in areas closely tied to Washington's interests. "If an uprising occurs in Saudi Arabia, it will have a dramatic impact that is off the charts," said Theodore Karasik, a regional affairs expert at the Dubai-based Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis. "Policymakers will have to grapple with it for decades." Both nations have been touched by the region's two-month-old turmoil: Iran with a renewal of street clashes and Saudi's rulers facing rare challenges to their absolute power, including a call for protests March 11. Their responses, meanwhile, have reflected their mutual suspicions and their own survival instincts. Saudi authorities have stood strongly behind Bahrain's Sunni monarchy, which is under siege by a revolt from that tiny kingdom's Shiite majority after decades of grievances over discrimination and other abuses. For the Saudis - and the rest of the Gulf's Sunni rulers - the Shiites in Bahrain represent a potential beachhead for Shiite powerhouse Iran. On Wednesday, Bahrain's monarch held urgent talks in neighboring Saudi Arabia with King Abdullah only hours after he returned home from recuperating from back surgery. In a clear sign of concern, Abdullah made the decree for the flood of cash into social programs and bank funds even before his plane touched down from Morocco. Social media sites have been buzzing with appeals for a pro-reform march next month and calls for more freedoms, including lifting some of the strict limits on women such as bans on driving and voting. Activists also are pushing for the release of university professors jailed for forming a political party. Iran, meanwhile, has shown again its split personality. Its leaders, including President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have portrayed Iran as a sort of father figure for the pro-democracy movements, which they claim have taken inspiration from its Islamic Revolution against the U.S.-backed shah.