| 沙特担忧伊朗日益增长的区域影响力-2 "In many ways, Saudi Arabia views itself as a pan-Islamic power, it doesn't view itself only as a Sunni power," he said. "And, interestingly, Iran is sometimes characterized as the vanguard of the Shia of the region, but Iran also likes to think of itself as a pan-Islamic power. So in some ways, both of these countries are vying for the mantle of leadership in the Muslim world." Saudi Arabia has had a security relationship with the United States since the 1979 Iranian revolution. George Friedman, chief executive officer of the private intelligence company, Stratfor, says there is an upside [something positive] for the U.S. in the growth of Iranian influence. He said, "The United States is not unhappy to see Iran herding Saudi Arabia back into a position of dependency on the United States. The United States is happy to calm their fears. The United States is also happy to see them afraid again of the Iranians." "So one of the interests Saudi Arabia now has is to protect it [the U.S.] from Iranian power. One of the interests the Americans have is to protect the Saudis from Iranian power. And therein lies a marriage, and diplomatic marriages have been based from worse," he continued. There are signs that both countries recognize that the sectarian fighting in Iraq has the potential to erupt into a wider regional or even a global pan-Islamic conflict. Prince Bandar bin Sultan, who was the Saudi ambassador to Washington, has recently held three meetings with Ali Larijani, national security adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He has also met with officials in Russia and the United States. But Chas Freeman says the Arab world does not share the U.S. level of concern about Iran's alleged bid to build nuclear weapons. "In the broader Arab world and within Saudi Arabia, concern about Iranian nuclear weapons is quite muted. That is a matter of extraordinary concern in Israel and, by extension, in the United States. It's not the main item of concern to the Saudis. They're concerned about Iranian political influence and the ability of Iran to influence, if not control, events in the region," said Freeman. Nevertheless, analysts say, Western governments are concerned that if Iran gets nuclear weapons capability, it could set off a Middle East arms race in which Saudi Arabia and perhaps Egypt try to get nuclear weapons themselves. Israel is already believed to be a nuclear power, although it has never publicly admitted it. |
