Clinton to visit PG with another anti-Iran agenda

The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will visit a number of Persian Gulf states later this week with the chief aim of rallying more Arab pressure against Iran.

Clinton intends to use her three-day visit to persuade Arab Sheikhdoms, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, to exert a greater ‘pressure’ on Iran over its uranium enrichment activities

“We believe that all countries have a part to play in helping to sharpen the question for Iran,” US Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey Feltman told reporters as Clinton set off for her journey.

“We would expect them (the Saudis) to use these visits, to use their relationships, in ways that can help increase the pressure that Iran would feel,” he asserted, without being clear as to what sort of pressure the US would demand from its autocratic ally in the Persian Gulf.

Clinton is scheduled to meet Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani on Sunday and Saudi King Abdullah on Monday.

The United States, which has been accusing Iran for years of intending to develop nuclear weapons, is currently campaigning, along with Israel and some European allies, for a fourth round of sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

China, one of the five veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council, has taken a stand against Washington’s push for more sanctions on Iran.

US officials hope that Clinton’s trip to the Middle East would provide an ideal opportunity to convince Arab countries to strengthen their ties with the Chinese, in an apparent scheme to lure Beijing away from Iran with attractive oil deals.

According to the officials, one way the Saudis could help ease Chinese reluctance to impose further sanctions on Tehran would be to offer the country guarantees that it would meet Beijing’s oil requirements.

A number of Persian Gulf Arab states have forged strong ties with Washington to the extent of agreeing to host US military bases and combat equipment.

Kuwait plays host to US anti-missile Patriot systems, while the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain are home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet headquarters.

Qatar is also known to have a modernized US air operations center that has played a central role in the US war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In a similar move, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to visit Moscow Monday to also push for “crippling sanctions” against Iran for its recent uranium enrichment efforts to produce fuel for a research reactor.

US an Israel, who possess nuclear weapons, have been leading the efforts to stop Iran’s nuclear program, conducted under close supervision by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

While fiercely rejecting US and Israeli claims and media campaigns that Iran is pursuing a weapon capability, Tehran has repeatedly called for a universal ban on all nuclear weapon production, development and arsenals, something that has largely fallen on deaf ears.