Commander: Saudi Regime Feeling Deeply Intimidated by Arab Spring

TEHRAN (FNA)- A senior Iranian military commander reiterated that regional uprisings, specially the revolution in Bahrain, have intimidated the Saudi officials very deeply since rulers in Riyadh feel that popular unrests in the neighboring Arab states may soon spread to their own country.
"The revolution in Bahrain has given a feeling of decomposition and collapse to the Saudi officials," Deputy Head of the General Staff of Iran's Armed Forces Major General Gholam Ali Rashid told reporters on Monday.

He mentioned that Saudi officials are feeling deep concern for the outcomes of the current revolutions in Bahrain, Yemen and other Arab countries not just because they are fearful of the spread of these uprisings to their country, but also because of the threats that such developments pose to the monarchy's regional clout and influence.

"They are concerned about the revolutions and developments which are influenced by the Islamic awakening in those areas which are connected to their land," Rashid said.

He further touched on the possible outcomes and negative impacts of the regional revolutions on Saudi Arabia's regional power and influence, and said, "When they look at the Bahrain revolution, Saudis feel that regions to the East of their country are gone and when they see such a fundamental and revolutionary development in Yemen, they feel that those regions to the South of their country are gone as well."

Given the popular uprisings and revolutions sweeping the Middle-East and North of Africa and the growing discontent among the Saudi people, many analysts believe that regional unrests will soon spread to Saudi Arabia.

"The reason for the Saudi Army's invasion of Bahrain is that if people's revolutions in Yemen and Bahrain yield results, the Saudi people will certainly follow suit and stage a popular uprising as well," a senior Saudi human rights activist and opposition figure, Seyed Hassan al-Moussavi al-Bahraini, told FNA in May.

In similar remarks, a prominent Bahraini politician said in April that the current revolution in his Shiite-majority nation would give rise to a similar uprising among the Shiite minority of Saudi Arabia, who mainly live in oil rich regions of the Arab country.

"Adjacency of Bahrain's Shiite-majority population to Saudi Arabia's Shiite region of al-Shortiyah, which is just 25km away from the borders with Bahrain, poses a potential threat to the Saudi regime," Representative of the Bahraini Shiites in Iran Abdullah Daqaq said.

"Victory of the Bahraini people's uprising would lead to a similar uprising by the Shiites of the al-Shortiyah region that has the richest oil resources in Saudi Arabia," Daqaq underscored.

He further pointed out that the deep and grave impact that such an uprising in Saudi Arabia would leave on the world oil market, which would certainly harm the interests of the western countries, is the root cause of the Saudi occupation of Bahrain and the brutal suppression of the Bahrainis' popular movement by the Al-Khalifa and Al-Saud regimes and the West's support for their crimes.

Also earlier in April, a prominent Saudi political analyst said that the Saudi ruling system is highly unpopular among the country's people.

Speaking to FNA, Mohammad al-Mos'ari said he believes "any free opinion poll in Saudi Arabia would reveal that at least 70% of the people want the overthrow of the Al-Saud dynasty".

He further underlined that a revolution in the Kingdom is now very likely, and noted, "I believe that popular protests cannot be silenced."