http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=119391&d=19&m=2&y=2009
Thursday 19 February 2009 (24 Safar 1430)
Kingdom condemns Iranian statements on Bahrain
Arab News
Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa receives Jordanian King
Abdallah at Manama airport on Wednesday. (Reuters)
JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia yesterday denounced statements by Iranian officials
asserting Tehran's claim on Bahrain.
"These irresponsible statements are only an attempt to defy historical
and geographical facts," an unnamed Saudi official told the Saudi Press Agency.
The response comes a week after Ali Akbar Nateq Noori, a former Iranian
speaker of the house who is now an adviser to the country's supreme leader,
reportedly claimed Bahrain as Iran's 14th province.
This is not the first time such claims have been made by the Iranians.
Daryush Qanbari, an Iranian MP, made similar comments before.
Bahrain's Al-Ayam newspaper reported yesterday that Manama has recalled
from Tehran its team overseeing a deal signed in October that would have
provided Bahrain with one billion cubic feet (about 28 million cubic meters) of
natural gas each year. "The Kingdom of Bahrain has stopped negotiations with
Iran concerning importing natural gas," a senior Bahraini official was quoted
as saying by AFP. "The decision was taken after the regretful remarks that
touch on Bahrain's sovereignty and do not support the relations between the two
countries."
On Tuesday, the Bahraini Parliament condemned Nateq Noori's statement.
"The Kingdom of Bahrain protests the comments made by Iranian officials that
tamper with the sovereignty and independence of Bahrain," the state news agency
BNA quoted Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmad Al-Khalifa as saying last
week.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak visited Manama last Monday and Jordan's
King Abdallah was in the Bahraini capital yesterday. Analysts believe both
visits were aimed at expressing solidarity with Bahrain.
There has been no official reaction from the Iranian government on Nateq
Noori's controversial comments.
The Saudi spokesman said yesterday that Iranian statements would hamper
ongoing efforts to establish good neighborly relations between Gulf Cooperation
Council (GCC) states and Iran.
"The GCC-Iran relations, based on mutual love and respect, are aimed at
achieving peace and stability in the region and preventing division among
Muslims," the Saudi Press Agency quoted the Saudi official as saying. "The
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia while strongly rejecting the Iranian statements
expresses its deep regret that such statements came from responsible officials
close to the Iranian leadership."
Ali Fakhro, a former Bahraini labor minister, said he did not believe the
Iranian comments reflected the policies of the country's leadership. "They are
absolutely meaningless," Fakhro told AFP. "I do not imagine that these comments
are based on a political strategy. If they are true, it would be major
political stupidity."
Ties between the two Gulf neighbors have been strained in the past, most
notably in July 2007 when an Iranian newspaper claimed Bahrain belonged to
Iran. Iran's foreign minister then flew to Manama to defuse the crisis
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