The rise of Tehran has petrified Arab capitals - and intensified debate in the US and Israel about the use of force
Jonathan Freedland
Wednesday July 18, 2007
The Guardian
"......The so-called moderate Arab states, those that lean towards the west, are petrified by the rise and rise of Tehran. Cairo, Amman and Riyadh fear both the Shia ascendancy and surging Islamism which Iran represents, the latter of which, were it not so thoroughly repressed in their own countries, would badly threaten their regimes. Egypt does not want to see Hamas, partner of Egypt's dissident Muslim Brotherhood movement, take over the West Bank the way it's taken over Gaza any more than Israel or Fatah does......
There are other motives at work in all this, of course, but Iran is a key factor. Reluctant to let Mahmoud Ahmadinejad pose as the Palestinians' champion and anxious to prevent the Palestinian plight from further radicalising their own populations, these mainly Sunni, pro-western states want to show they can deliver too. This is the window of opportunity through which Bush is pushing his conference......"
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