Cause for Alarm

 

A view from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

 

Those of us concerned about Iran’s rising influence in Ras Al Khaimah have always assumed it was the regimes religious leaders making all the important decisions about Iran and its expansionist policies.

 

Now, we cannot be so sure.

 

In recent days, Hillary Clinton, the U.S. Secretary of State, has raised the possibility that Iran is drifting toward a military dictatorship, in which the real power lies with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.  She claims the Revolutionary Guards have been seizing more control of Iran’s military and economic institutions away from Iran’s religious leaders.

 

If that is the case, we have more to worry about than I thought.

 

As a military force, the Revolutionary Guards would have the most to gain by Iran’s march toward nuclear weapons.  Its commanders would be in charge of such weapons, giving them the power to threaten or use them without regard to political intermediaries or active diplomacy.

 

Such weapons might also embolden them to threaten states that have close connections to the Iranian leadership.  That is where Ras Al Khaimah is vulnerable as a growing nestling place for Iranian business and trade ventures, some of which may be part of Iran’s efforts to circumvent international sanctions.

 

One advantage to Mrs. Clinton’s assertion, if true, would be to galvanize international opposition to Iran’s unwillingness to curtail its nuclear ambitions.  The harder line Iran appears to be taking, the easier it becomes to the community of peaceful nations to line up in opposition.

 

I hope Mrs. Clinton is wrong.  But I fear that she is right. If that is the case, every citizen of Ras Al Khaimah has cause for alarm.

 

His Highness Sheikh Khalid bin Saqr Al Qasimi
Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler
Ras Al Khaimah