VZCZCXRO4322
OO RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHDIR RUEHKUK
DE RUEHMK #0662/01 1980526
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 170526Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY MANAMA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7026
INFO RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RHBVAKS/COMUSNAVCENT  PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAMA 000662 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/18/2017 
TAGS: PREL BA IR REGION
SUBJECT: IRANIAN FM ASSURES BAHRAIN OF FULL RESPECT FOR 
SOVEREIGNTY 
 
REF: A. MANAMA 650 B. MANAMA 600 
 
Classified By: Ambassador William T. Monroe.  Reason: 1.4 (B)(D) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary. Iranian Foreign Minister Muttaqi, in a July 
14 visit, gave Bahraini leaders an official assurance that 
Iran recognized Bahrain as a sovereign state and had no 
territorial claims on it, helping quiet a storm that had 
developed over a statement by a Khamenei associate last week 
that Bahrain was the 14th province of Iran. In a joint press 
conference, Bahrain's Foreign Minister announced that he 
accepted Muttaqi's explanation that the statement did not 
reflect Iran's official position.  He also advised that the 
two countries agreed to hold a joint committee meeting on 
future cooperation (although this meeting had in fact been 
announced last month).  Bahrain's leading Shia cleric made 
clear Shia loyalty to Bahrain in his Friday sermon, and the 
country's leading Shia journalist urged Bahrainis to forget 
the past and move forward, underscoring Bahraini Shia 
discomfort with the whole incident.  For its part, the 
Bahrain government felt it had no choice, once it had made 
its point, to seek accommodation with its large and 
potentially threatening neighbor to the north.  By June 16, 
the storm seemed to have subsided.  End summary 
 
¶2. (SBU) Iranian Foreign Minister Muttaqi visited Bahrain 
July 14 to try cool emotions and reassure Bahrainis following 
a controversial statement last week by Kayhan editor and 
Khamenei associate Hussain Shariatmadari reasserting a claim 
that Bahrain was rightfully the 14th province of Iran (ref 
A).  Muttaqi seems to have been largely successful in his 
mission, as Bahrain's Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid bin 
Ahmed told reporters at a joint press conference that he 
accepted Muttaqi's explanation that Shariatmadari's comments 
did not reflect the Iran government's official position. 
 
¶3. (C) Shaikh Khalid told the Ambassador that in the meeting 
with Muttaqi he asked point blank if Iran fully respected the 
sovereignty of Bahrain.  Muttaqi assured Shaikh Khalid that 
Iran did, as long as Bahrain fully respected Iran's 
sovereignty (perhaps a veiled reference to the presence of 
the U.S. Navy in Bahrain).  Shaikh Khalid said that he 
accepted the Iranian statement, but added that "we still have 
a lot of work to do" in the relationship with Iran. 
 
¶4. (U) During the press conference, Shaikh Khalid stated that 
Bahrain had received "official assurances" on the question of 
Bahrain's sovereignty, and that the two countries had agreed 
to set up a joint committee to develop areas of future 
cooperation, particularly in the oil and gas field, which 
will meet in the fall. (Comment: Actually, news of this 
committee is not new.  It was announced last month during the 
visit of MFA Minister of State Nazar Al-Baharna to Tehran 
(ref B)).  Shaikh Khalid also welcomed Iran's announcement 
that it had agreed to answer IAEA questions about its nuclear 
program. 
 
¶5. (C) For his part, Muttaqi told the press that Iran 
recognizes Bahrain as an independent state and has no 
sovereignty claims towards it.  He declined to apologize for 
Shariatmadari's comments, however, saying that if a story 
about Iran was published in the Bahraini newspapers, Iran 
would not ask the Bahrain government for an apology. MFA 
MinState Al-Baharna told the Ambassador that, in the meeting 
with Shaikh Khalid, Muttaqi stated that Iran had not reacted 
in protest whenever anti-Iranian Bahraini columnists 
criticized Iran, even when the columnist was a member of the 
King-appointed Shura Council. (Comment: Without naming names, 
Muttaqi clearly had in mind Akhbar Al-Kaleej columnist 
Sameera Rajab, who was appointed to the Shura Council last 
December and regularly writes critical columns about the 
United States and Iran.)  In addition to his meeting with 
Shaikh Khalid and the press conference, Muttaqi also met with 
Crown Prince Shaikh Salman. 
 
¶6. (U) Prior to the arrival of Muttaqi, news of 
Shariatmadari's statement continued to reverberate in 
Bahrain.  A noisy demonstration took place outside the 
Iranian Embassy on July 13, with protesters chanting 
anti-Iranian slogans and demanding the closure of the Embassy 
and an official apology from the Iranian government.  Major 
Shia political bloc Al-Wifaq was notable for its absence at 
the demonstration.  Friday prayer sermons focused on 
Shariatmadari's statement.  Most noteworthy was Shia 
spiritual leader Shaikh Isa Qassim's comment that the 
statement raised three issues: First, any agreement or 
disagreement between the Bahraini people and their government 
is strictly an internal affair, and it is unacceptable that 
any other government increase the tension; second, the 
statement was against the interests of everyone and worked 
 
MANAMA 00000662  002 OF 002 
 
 
against the stability that the region needs; and third, the 
statement was unrealistic because Bahrain is an independent 
country and no other country has sovereignty over it. 
 
¶7. (U) In his July 15 editorial, editor of the Shia-oriented 
daily Al-Wasat, Mansour Al-Jamri, praised Muttaqi's statement 
to the press in Bahrain and urged Bahrainis to forget the 
past and encourage future development between the two 
countries.  He welcomed the formation of a joint committee to 
develop areas of future cooperation. 
 
¶8. (U) Bu June 16, the tempest created by the Shariatmadari 
seemed to have subsided.  The story was off the front pages, 
except for one small article reporting that the Iranian MFA 
spokesman had reiterated in his weekly news conference that 
Shariatmadari's statement represented his personal view only 
and not that of the Iranian Foreign Ministry, and that Iran 
respects Bahraini sovereignty and will continue to have good 
relations with Bahrain. Also reported was a day trip Shaikh 
Khalid took to Saudi Arabia to brief King Abdullah on the 
affair. 
 
¶8. (C) Comment: Muttaqi's visit has predictably quieted the 
local storm that developed over Shariatmadari's ill-timed 
statement.  Nonetheless, the statement, in hitting a raw 
nerve, aroused the worst fears in Bahrain's Sunni community, 
especially among those inclined to distrust Iran in 
particular and Shia in general.  The statements of the 
leading Shia cleric and Shia journalist are telling.  Shaikh 
Isa Qassim wanted to make clear Shia loyalty to Bahrain, and 
Mansour Al-Jamry wanted to get the whole thing over with as 
quickly as possible.  They saw no benefit in this for the 
Bahraini Shia.  As for Bahrain's relations with Iran, the 
government predictably felt that, once it had made its point, 
it had no choice but to seek accommodation with its large and 
potentially threatening neighbor to the north. 
 
********************************************* ******** 
Visit Embassy Manama's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/manama/ 
********************************************* ******** 
MONROE