CH. 2 SEC. 2 The Safavid Empire. Vocabulary Safavid Isma’il Shah Shah Abbas Esfahan Persians.
The Arab World Fears the ‘Safavid’
-
Upload
jerusalem-center-for-public-affairs -
Category
Documents
-
view
216 -
download
0
Transcript of The Arab World Fears the ‘Safavid’
-
7/28/2019 The Arab World Fears the Safavid
1/4
TheArabWorldFearstheSafavidDoreGold,June9,2013
InaninterviewonAl-JazeerathispastMay,thecommanderoftheFreeSyrianArmy,Brig.Gen.SalimIdris,explainedthatthediversionof
HezbollahforcesfromLebanontoSyriatotakepartinthecivilwarwas
partofaSafavidplanfortheMiddleEastregion.
ThispastJanuary,anarticleintheinfluentialLebanesedailyAs-
SafiraccusedIraqsShiitePrimeMinisterNourial-Malikiofreceiving
assistancefromhisSafavidallies.AfterthepowerfulSunniMuslim
leader,SheikhYousufal-Qaradawi,condemnedIranforitsactionsin
Syria,theMuslimScholarsAssociationofLebanonwarnedthatthe
SunniArabswerefacingthespreadingSafawiproject.
Indeed,overthelastdecade,thetermSafavidhasbecomea
commonlyusedderogatorywordamongArableadersfortheIranians.
AmericanjournalistBobWoodwarddescribesaharshdiplomatic
exchangeinoneofhisbooksbetweenKingAbdullahofSaudiArabiaand
ahigh-levelU.S.officialaboutthe2003IraqWar,inwhichtheSaudi
leaderstates:YouhaveallowedthePersians,theSafavids,totakeover
Iraq.ByusingthetermSafavid,Arableadersweremakingreferenceto
theSafavidEmpireandimputinghegemonicmotivationstothecurrent
Iraniangovernment,suggestingthatIranisseekingtore-establishtheir
countrysformerimperialborders.
WhoweretheSafavidsandoverwhatterritoriesdidtheyrule?
TheSafavidEmpirewasbasedinIranandexistedbetween1501and
1722.Itsfounder,ShahIsmail,madeShiiteIslamthestatereligionof
IranandhewagedwarsagainsttheleadingSunnistateatthetime,theOttomanEmpire.Atitsheight,theSafavidEmpireextendeditsrulewell
beyondIranspresentbordersintolargepartsofAfghanistan,Pakistan
andTurkemanistan,intheeastandcoveringhalfofIraq,including
BaghdadandtheShiiteholycitiesofNajafandKerbala,alongwiththe
easternmostpartofSyriainthewest.
-
7/28/2019 The Arab World Fears the Safavid
2/4
TheearlySafavidleadersimportedShiiteleadersfromsouthern
LebanontohelpwiththepropagationofShiiteIslamacrossPersia.Thus
thetiesbetweenIranandLebanoncanbetracedbackatleasttothe
16thcentury.Inthesouth,theSafavidEmpirereachedtheArabian
coastlineofthePersianGulf,whileinthenorthitincludedwhatistoday
AzerbaijanandArmenia.TheIranianleadershiptodayhasnotformally
claimedthebordersoftheSafavidEmpire,butitcertainlymade
statementssuggestingtheyreflectedpartoftheirnationalaspirations.
Forexample,HosseinShariatmadariservedasanunofficial
spokesmanforIransSupremeLeaderAyatollahAliKhameneiaswellas
theeditoroftheconservativeIraniandaily,Kayhan.InJuly2007,he
wroteanop-edstatingthattheArabstatesoftheGulfwereestablishedasaresultoftheinterventionoftheWest.HeinsistedthattheArab
peoplesintheArabianpeninsulawerenotinvolvedintheappointment
oftheirgovernments.HethenclaimedspecificallythatBahrainwaspart
ofIranianterritory.In2009,AliAkbarNateqNouri,whowas
Khameneiscandidateforpresidentin1997,bluntlycalledBahrain
Irans14thprovince.
AmemberoftheIranianParliamentsCommitteeforNational
SecurityandForeignPolicybackedShariatmadarisstatementand
remindedtheArabstatesthatmostofthemwereoncepartofIranian
soil.MorerecentlyanotherKhameneiassociatecalledSyriaIrans
35thprovince.ItwasnotsurprisingwhenInternetwhistle-blowersite
WikiLeaksuncoveredaseniorOmaniofficer,whoworkedforSultan
Qaboos,tellingavisitingAmericancounterpartin2008thattheregime
inTehranwasmotivatedbyanIranianexpansionistideology.
Aftertakingoffice,AyatollahAliKhameneiprovidedjustificationfortheIranianactivismthatwasthreateningtheArabstates.Ashe
explainedtotheIraniandailyRessalatin1991,IransNationalSecurity
Strategywasnotjustbasedonpreservationoftheintegrityofthe
Iranianstate,butratheronitsexpansionheusedthetermbast,in
Arabic.ThisworldviewwasevidentinthestatementsofsomeofIrans
-
7/28/2019 The Arab World Fears the Safavid
3/4
mostimportantseniorofficers.Gen.QassemSuleimani,thecommander
oftheQudsForceoftheIslamicRevolutionaryGuardsCorpsstatedin
2012withrespecttoLebanonandIraq:Theseregionsareonewayor
anothersubjecttothecontroloftheIslamicRepublicofIranandits
ideas.SuleimanireportsdirectlytoKhameneiandwasjustappointed
tocoordinateallIranianmilitaryactivitiesinSyriaagainstIsrael.
Indiplomacy,afundamentaldistinctionisoftendrawnbetween
statusquostatesthataresatisfiedwiththeextentoftheirterritoryand
donotseektoaltertheirbordersandanti-statusquostatesthataspire
toexerciseinfluenceovertheirneighborsandultimatelytakeovertheir
territories.BycallingtheIraniansSafavids,theArabsideisexpressing
itsviewthatIranisananti-statusquostatewhichwantsthosepartsofIraqwheretheSafavidsonceruledaswellastheterritoriesofmanyof
theArabGulfstates.
ThisdiscussionisrelevantforthedebateintheWestoverthe
consequencesofanuclearIran.LastmonthanIranian-Americananalyst
fromtheRANDCorporation,AlirezaNader,wroteintheprestigious
AmericanjournalForeignPolicyhisviewthatIranisonlyseeking
nuclearweaponsfordeterrence.ThepurposeofanIranianbombisthus
defensive;allIranisseekingistopreventtheWestfromcarryingout
regimechangeagainstitsIslamistleadership.HeclearlyportraysIran
asastatus-quostatethatwillnotoverthrowtheregimesofitsArab
neighbors.ThisworkfitsinwellwiththenewtrendinWashingtonof
recommendingthattheObamaadministrationreconsiderthepolicyof
containment,whichitdroppedin2012infavorofthepolicyof
prevention.
Thereareotherviewsthatnegatethesesuggestions.SaudiMaj.FeisalAbukshiemwroteanoutstandingstudylastyearfortheU.S.
ArmysCommandandStaffCollegethatreachedthecompletely
oppositeconclusionsabouttheimplicationsofanuclearIranonthe
MiddleEast.HedetailedhowIranusedShiitemovements,someof
whoseleadersstudiedintheIraniancityofQom,inordertopromote
-
7/28/2019 The Arab World Fears the Safavid
4/4
assassinations,sectarianrebellionsandterrorinBahrain,Kuwaitand
SaudiArabia.HepointedoutthecasesofpastIranianmilitary
interventionintheUnitedArabEmirates,Lebanon,Yemenandmost
recentlyinSyria.Hethenconcludedthatthepossessionofnuclear
weaponswillencourageIrantoexpandthoseeffortswithout
deterrence.
Anuclearweaponinthehandsofastatus-quostatewitha
defensiveorientationisaverydifferentstorythannuclearweaponsin
thehandsofastatethatwantstototallychangetheinternationalstatus
quo.Thiscouldhaveoffensiveimplications.IfIranreallyviewsitselfas
atruncatedstatethatdeservestorecovertheterritoriesitonce
controlledinthedaysoftheSafavidEmpire,thendeterrenceofanuclearIraninthefuturewillbefarmoredifficultthanmanyinthe
Westcurrentlyrealize.