Khomeini: Chapter Two

Kuwait, April 6—The likely prospect of a victory for Iran in its 19-month-old war with Iraq is inspiring large amounts of dread in the six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)—Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates. With the war out of the way, and flushed with triumph, Iran would spread its revolutionary chaos down the Gulf with even greater zeal and resources than hitherto. Dedicated to a greater-Persian-empire policy, the Ayatollah and the rabid young fundamentalists who run his government want to establish Shi’ite Islamic republics of the Iranian type throughout the region. Besides accommodating the fundamentalists’ zeal, this revolutionary ardor would also distract the Iranian military and people from their grave internal problems.

The fledgling GCC was born in Abu Dhabi last May as a vehicle to strengthen the region’s economy, culture, and security. From the outset the GCC had to bear the wrath of Iran, which continuously blasted it with the most hostile invective, calling it among other things a vile creature of the West bent on defeating Iran’s ideological penetration of the Gulf. In October the broadcast propaganda was supplemented by subversive action: the Ayatollah gave 15,000 pilgrims his approval to turn the holy city of Mecca inside out as a protest against the Saudi Arabian government. This license from him had the effect of a blessing from the Pope. Later, in a letter to Saudi Arabia’s King Khalid, Khomeini derided the King’s earlier polite protest, saying that there was no separation in Islam between politics and religion. Intelligence reports from this region indicate that Iran has earmarked over $25 million for softening up Saudi Arabia. The Ayatollah sees Saudi Arabia as a puppet of the United States, denouncing it with the same epithet he uses for us: “Great Satan.”

JM

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John McLaughlin

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Kuwait, April 6—The likely prospect of a victory for Iran in its 19-month-old war with Iraq is inspiring large amounts of dread in the six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)—Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates. With the war out of the way, and flushed with triumph, Iran would spread its revolutionary chaos down the Gulf with even greater zeal and resources than hitherto. Dedicated to a greater-Persian-empire policy, the Ayatollah and the rabid young fundamentalists who run his government want to establish Shi’ite Islamic republics of the Iranian type throughout the region. Besides accommodating the fundamentalists’ zeal, this revolutionary ardor would also distract the Iranian military and people from their grave internal problems.

The fledgling GCC was born in Abu Dhabi last May as a vehicle to strengthen the region’s economy, culture, and security. From the outset the GCC had to bear the wrath of Iran, which continuously blasted it with the most hostile invective, calling it among other things a vile creature of the West bent on defeating Iran’s ideological penetration of the Gulf. In October the broadcast propaganda was supplemented by subversive action: the Ayatollah gave 15,000 pilgrims his approval to turn the holy city of Mecca inside out as a protest against the Saudi Arabian government. This license from him had the effect of a blessing from the Pope. Later, in a letter to Saudi Arabia’s King Khalid, Khomeini derided the King’s earlier polite protest, saying that there was no separation in Islam between politics and religion. Intelligence reports from this region indicate that Iran has earmarked over $25 million for softening up Saudi Arabia. The Ayatollah sees Saudi Arabia as a puppet of the United States, denouncing it with the same epithet he uses for us: “Great Satan.”