emirate of Ras al-Khaimah and one of the world’s longest reigning monarchs, died October 27 , sparking a succession struggle between two of his sons.
For Iran, Ras al-Khaimah is significant because it claims ownership of the Greater and Lesser Tunbs, two tiny islands in the Persian Gulf that Iran occupies. Ras al-Khaimah is one of the seven emirates that comprise the federation of the United Arab Emirates.
Shaikh Saqr, 92, died at dawn in Ras al-Khaimah, according to WAM, the official UAE news agency. The shaikh has not personally been in conflict with Iran because the UAE federal government handles foreign relations, not the individual emirati governments. But the shaikh presumably encouraged the blistering and constant criticisms of Iran leveled by the UAE.
The shaikh, who had been suffering from failing health, ruled the emirate located on the outside of the Strait of Hormuz, since 1948 when he was 30 years old.
WAM referred to his son, Crown Prince Shaikh Saud bin Saqr al-Qassimi, as “the ruler of Ras al-Khaimah.” But Sheikh Saud’s elder brother, Shaikh Khaled, proclaimed himself ruler in a video message posted on his website soon after his father’s death.
The two brothers were caught in a power tussle in 2003 when their father demoted Shaikh Khaled and appointed his younger brother Shaikh Saud as crown prince.
Riad Kahwaji, head of the Dubai-based think-tank INEGMA, said Sheikh Khaled’s bid for the throne would amount to no more than a “media campaign” unless he gets the consent of UAE leaders.
“If the tribal leaders in Ras al-Khaimah and the rest of the UAE support the current crown prince as a ruler, then the situation will not escalate,” Kahwaji said. “Until now we have not heard any voices in Ras al-Khaimah calling for the return of Shaikh Khaled.”
There is a slim possibility of Iran being caught up in the brothers’ tussle. Shaikh Khaled accuses his brother of turning the emirate into a “rogue state” that Iran uses to circumvent UN sanctions.
Kahwaji says the allegations are groundless. “There were international bodies which came here to investigate this matter but they found nothing,” he said. “There is no concrete proof of cooperation with Iran.”
Since becoming crown prince, the US-educated Shaikh Saud, 54, has steered the development of important ceramics, pharmaceutical, and cement industries in Ras al-Khaimah, which is poor in natural resources and unlike some of the wealthier emirates, boasts no oil reserves.
Ras al-Khaimah is one of the seven emirates making up the United Arab Emirates. The others are Abu Dhabi, which also serves as the capital, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah and Umm al-Qaiwain.