I heard King Hamad bin Isa call for national dialogue among all the segments of the people of Bahrain, without excluding anyone. I also heard the same from Prince Khalifa bin Salman, the Prime Minister, and Sheikh Mohammed bin Mubarak, the Deputy Prime Minister. A year ago, Prince Salman bin Hamad, the Crown Prince, spoke to me about what the government intends to undertake by way of reforms, in response to the opposition's demands. A year ago, the opposition group Al-Wefaq announced its demands, before declaring its boycott of the negotiations, and withdrawing from the parliamentary race. Today, Al-Wefaq wants negotiations to take place with it alone. In other words, it wants to exclude others, which cannot possibly happen. Is this current position the same as the old one, but using a different scenario? In other words, is it that Al-Wefaq does not want to negotiate, or is prohibited from negotiating, and is therefore looking for pretexts not to engage in talks? King Hamad was handed the report of the national commission concerned with the recommendations made in the fact-finding commission's report, including both those implemented and those that are yet to be put into practice. In this context, I heard Sheikh Ali Salman, leader of Al-Wefaq, claim around the same time in a televised interview that the government has not implemented any of the recommendations made by Judge Bassiouni's commission. This is not true. I asked Sheikh Mohammed bin Mubarak about this, and he said that students who had been expelled were allowed to go back to their schools, while dismissed employees were reinstated. Many prisoners were released, and compensations to those who were affected were approved. In addition, CCTV cameras were installed in police stations and interview rooms. Meanwhile, the task of training the police and judges has been assigned to international institutions, and it is obvious that training requires time. This is while those facing counts of torture are already appearing before courts. Sheikh Mohammed also reaffirmed to me what I heard the King and all the senior officials say. Indeed, dialogue is open to everyone and there are reservations against none. However, it is Al-Wefaq group that is expressing reservations, although if it is to engage in talks, then this would eliminate my suspicions and those of others that the group does not have the freedom to make its own decisions. On the subject of Bahrain, I always attempt my best to be objective, especially when I have friendships, some dating back as far as four decades, with many senior officials. For this reason, I have always maintained and repeat this today that the opposition has legitimate demands, but that I wish that the Al-Wefaq group had engaged in negotiations, because it would have achieved a great deal, but definitely not all, of the demands, and because it could have waited for the next opportunity to negotiate over more demands. I find nothing else more logical. In plain English, if you have demands, then you need to negotiate over them, and if you boycott negotiations then you are squandering your chances. I find the situation to be grossly illogical. To be sure, Bahrain is a small country, with no considerable natural resources. Nevertheless, the regime there has built a prosperous economy based on services, banking and so forth, and the per capita income in Bahrain is close to that of the neighboring oil-rich countries. On the other hand, Iran has the world's third or fourth largest oil reserves, and yet, the country is on the brink of bankruptcy, because of the embargo and the sanctions brought upon Iran by the foolish, reckless and unwise policies pursued by the government. (Iran is a Muslim country and a longstanding neighbor, and I call for the best possible relations between its people and the Arabs, and my criticism is thus only addressed to its government). Nonetheless, the Bahraini opposition wants to take the people of Bahrain down the abyss of Iranian misery, instead of calling for a wise and sound government for Iran, as its people deserve. Is Iran today an exemplary model? No, never. One does not need only vision to perceive this, but also some wisdom which seems to have forsaken or ditched the opposition. Now with regard to the Iranian regime, I want to say once again that I have always supported an Iranian nuclear weapons program, as long as Israel is in possession of a nuclear arsenal. I also call on capable Arab countries to seek to acquire nuclear weapons. I am with Iran against Israel, the United States and the entire West when it comes to the nuclear program, but I am not with Iran when it comes to Bahrain. For one thing, the daily incitement, the pressure on the Shiite people of Bahrain and the arrogant lies all harm Iran's small neighbor and its entire people, both Sunnis and Shiites. Despite this, the Iranian regime, in its pursuit of impossible ambitions and bygone imperialist dreams, seems unconcerned by whether this is harming Bahrain and its people, even when it is gaining nothing more than demonstrating to America that it is a major player, or the top player, in our region. The interests of the Bahraini opposition all lie in Bahrain, and it proves it is exclusively Bahraini as much as it distances itself from the Iranian regime…again, the regime, and not the people.
