Bahrain king advocates NATO model to counter Iran threat

Special to WorldTribune.com

ABU DHABI — The Gulf Cooperation Council has been urged to followvNATO in strategic planning and cooperation.

A leading GCC official urged the six Gulf Arab members to study the NATOvmodel in an effort to enhance capabilities and interoperability.

Bahrain's King Hamad
Bahrain’s King Hamad

The official said the GCC has not exploited the opportunity to cooperate with the Western alliance amid the threat from neighboring Iran.

“The GCC states have failed to date to approve a joint strategic concept of deterrent and balancing force,” Bahraini royal adviser Mohammed Abdul Ghaffar said.

Abdul Ghaffar, diplomatic adviser to Bahrain’s King Hamad, told a regional security conference on April 23, that the GCC must modernize to maintain stability. He said the NATO model included the need to pool resources to confront such challenges as Iran and Syria.

“There is no option but to unite,” Abdul Ghaffar said.

Bahrain, one of three GCC members that cooperate with NATO, has been one of the biggest proponents for Gulf Arab security. Bahrain’s neighbor and leading ally, Saudi Arabia, urged the GCC to expand capabilities to include nuclear expertise that could match Iran.

“We do not hold any hostility to Iran and do not wish any harm to it or
to its people, who are Muslim neighbors,” former Saudi intelligence director
Prince Turki Al Faisal told the Bahrain Center for Strategic, International
and Energy Studies. “But preserving our regional security requires that we,
as a Gulf grouping, work to create a real balance of forces with it,
including in nuclear knowhow, and to be ready for any possibility in
relation to the Iranian nuclear file.”

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