(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - The demonstrations have mainly been in the Eastern Province of the Persian Gulf kingdom.
However, On March 5, 2011, the Saudi Interior Ministry called all public gatherings "illegal", authorizing regime forces “to take all measures needed” against the people who defied the ban.
Several protesters have in the past months been killed by the Saudi regime's security forces and many more have been injured and arrested.
We have conducted an interview with Mohammad Marandi, a professor at the University of Tehran, to further discuss the issue.
The video offers the opinions of one additional guest: Abdul Alim Musa, an Imam of Masjid al-Islam in Washington.
The following is a transcript of the interview.
Q: Is there an Arab Spring booming in Saudi Arabia?
Some observers have been saying that since Saudi forces started to use live ammunitions against the protesters, since they started to shot directly at the people, this shows that the uprising has begun and that it is going to spread. Do you agree with that stance?
Marandi: The very fact that the Saudi's are using such aggressive measures against its own people does show that it is not in a very strong position.
In Saudi Arabia right now, you know have a very ill king; you have a very large royal family. Thousands of princes that effectively take away a huge amount of the country's budget for their own purposes.
And there is much more poverty in the country than many people think, according to statistics provided by Western-based organization even.
So inherently, the Saudi regime is not stabile.
And the fact that the Saudi government has been seen as aligning itself with the most despotic regimes in the region like Saudi Arabia, like the Tunisian regime, and on the other hand it has supported American policies in the region throughout the years, and effectively been on the same side with the Israeli regime, for example, when the Israelis carried out an attack on Lebanon in 2006. And when the Israeli regime attacked Gaza, the Saudis effectively sided with Israel.
And therefore, this has caused it not to only loose the support of its people, but hostility beyond its borders.
Q: When we are speaking about the situation in Saudi Arabia, we know that the protests have been mainly in the Eastern Province, and that is where the Shia Muslims have been, and we know of course of the extreme discrimination that they are faced with, which is not covered that much in the media. Does this mean that we are not going to see these protests spread elsewhere in Saudi Arabia? What do you think?
Marandi: I think that's quite true, that the Saudis have been trying to whip up sectarianism throughout the region.
And after all, they promote this extreme Salafist ideology, which is basically an ideology of hate. It has nothing to do with Sunni or Shia Islam.
We see it unfortunately reveal itself in Nigeria, in Syria, in Iraq. Many Sunni imams were killed by the Salafist forces in Iraq over the past few years. I think a hundred and thirty of them were murdered. Or the son of the Grand Mufti of Syria recently, a couple of months ago was murdered.
So the Saudis advocate this extremist ideology, and I think the majority of people in Saudi Arabia itself, do not follow such an ideology.
And it's not only the ideology of Salafism that is a problem in Saudi Arabia. It's also the fact that a very large Al Saud family, they are taking a huge amount of the resources. And the country itself has been, as I said earlier, supporting the most despotic regimes in the region, and this has angered people not only outside the country, but many people inside the country as well.
Saudi Arabia has effectively made enemies with Iraq, because of its policies of supporting terrorists in the country. It has made enemies with the people of Yemen. And both of these countries border Saudi Arabia. And of course what it's doing in Bahrain, is causing a great deal difficulty in Saudi Arabia, as you pointed out, in the Eastern Provinces.
So the issues that the Saudi regime is facing are very complicated and pretty diverse.
Q: Let's look at the role of Saudi Arabia in the region.
As we know, Saudi Arabia has been involved in Yemen in giving immunity from prosecution to Ali Abdullah Saleh, in the deal that they brokered.
In Bahrain of course, you referred to, the direct military involvement.
And also the support that it gave to the former Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak. And allegations that it's still involved in acting incidents of violence in Cairo.
The question would be; what is Saudi Arabia looking for in these involvements? And do you think, also, that the West is included in this? Because some observers are saying that the West has been aware and has given the green light to Saudi Arabia for instance to get involved in Bahrain, this is part of an agreement that the two side s have made together. Would you agree with that?
Marandi: I think it's pretty obvious that Western countries have colluded with Saudi Arabia, for example in the case of Bahrain; they supported the occupation of the country, which is illegitimate. Because the Bahraini people never accepted the occupation of their country.
A mutual defense accord has nothing to do with suppressing ordinary people. But Mr. Obama, as well as US Secretary of State, they both supported the move.
Basically what Saudi Arabia is doing, it's trying to export its problems. Even the situation in Syria is largely, in the eyes of many, an act of revenge by countries like Saudi Arabia for its support of resistance movements.
Right now, there are reports of Saudis putting a huge amount of money inside Syria and giving weapons to terrorist organizations over there. So you know when one looks at the role that countries like Saudi Arabia are playing in Syria and the support that the United States is giving. It's very difficult to believe that any of the armed acts carried out by the terrorist organizations in the country are really for the sake of peace, democracy and openness.
You don't have despotic regimes advocating democracy! But Saudi Arabia is basically exporting its problems. But the problem that it creates for itself is that it's right now making many enemies.
For example, just recently it's been reported that Saudi Arabia along with Western countries, may have an intention to help impose an embargo on Iranian oil. If that happens, Iran would see that as a hostile act, and it would respond in kind.
And Saudi Arabia being so vulnerable, and having so many enemies on so many of its borders, and having so many internal problems. As well as an ailing king, it's not really in a position to make more enemies.
So the more the Saudis export its problems, the more problems in the long run it creates for itself.
And another problem is that Western countries don't really know, many people in the West don't know it's going on, because the Western media is completely silent. And just recently, a Saudi princess was on Hard Talk, a BBC program, and she basically admitted on the program twice, that even organizations like Amnesty International do not give Saudi Arabia a hard time because of its stature, its importance for the West.
And it's was interesting that the host of the Hard Talk program kept trying to change the subject, but she repeated this.
So in the West the media is not going to say much. But as things move forward, the Saudi regime is going to become more unstable than before, especially, if it continues to pursue this extremist policy with regard to its neighbors and its own people.
Q: Mr. Marandi, do you think that this support from the West is going to continue? And that the interest of the two sides is not going to collide?
Marandi: Well I think the Saudi regime; since it does not reflect the will of its own people, will probably continue to toe the line of and support American policies.
But that is basically its major problem, if the Saudis want greater stability; they have to have more independent policy. And therefore, they have to be more in tune with the demands of the people with the region and try to establish better relations with neighboring countries.
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